351 over 2 days
by animechick247
Summary: Ankoku is a special nobody who can see the future.When she and her twin brother, Roxas join the Organization,they become the key to their goals. But when she starts seeing a girl in her dreams, she starts to wonder what her purpose in life is?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Names

**A/N: Hey everyone! Here we are with the next installment of the 'A Trail of Memories' series! Now we start the story of Hikari's nobody, and how she fits in the Organization.**

**Just for the record, I'm not going to write the whole game. I'll just focus more on the important parts of it. Otherwise, this will get really long and I won't be able to start 'A Trail of Memories 2'.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, just my Oc's.**

**Enjoy!**

/

_Pitiful Heartless, mindlessly collecting hearts._

_And yet, they know not the power they hold._

_The rage of the keyblades releases those hearts._

_They gather in darkness, masterless and free._

_Until they weave together to make Kingdom Hearts._

_And when that time comes, we can truly, finally exist._

/

Out near Twilight Town's mansion, two lone figures stood in front of the old rusty gates.

One of them was a girl while the other was a boy.

The boy had spiky dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a black, high-collared jacket with a star like zipper. Over it, he wore another jacket that was unzipped and white with several black block designs and a grey hem on the end of each sleeve. The jacket's collar was red and pleated and folded back. He wore two different colored pants .The legs of his pants were beige with several buttons on the hem while the other half was black. His shoes were colored in shades of grey and black with red laces. To top it all off, he wore a wrist back with a black and white checkered board pattern on his left arm while he had a plain black and white ring on his left middle and index finger.

The girl next to him contrasted with him greatly.

She had jet black hair that reached her shoulders and covered the right side of her face. She had emerald green eyes. She wore a blue tube top that had a strap covering her left shoulder. She wore black baggy pants that had three belts criss-crossing her waist that were different shades of blue. She had black combat boots with light blue laces. She had long, fingerless gloves that reached to her elbows, yet one was longer than the other . The one on her right arm reached her elbow and was a medium blue while the one on her left went over her elbow and was a darker blue.

The two of them looked like they were in a daze as they stood there.

Just then, a portal opened up and a cloaked figure walked towards them.

The stranger appeared to be male, due to its body structure.

He looked at the two them.

These were to be his new pawns.

He looked at the boy first.

"You seek answers?" he asked.

The boy nodded.

The cloaked man smirked.

"I can give you purpose"

He waved his hand out in front of him and had the word _Sora _appeared in front of him.

The letters mixed around until the man summoned up and X and placed it in the middle of the words.

The word _Sora _became _Roxas._

The boy looked up at the word.

"Roxas" he mumbled.

The cloaked man nodded.

"That is right-the new you" he said.

He looked at the girl.

"And what of you? Do you seek answers as well?"

She nodded.

She was looking at the ground the whole time.

The man walked over to her and faced her.

"Let me see your face" he ordered.

She did so, and slowly looked at him.

His eyes widen slightly when he saw her face.

"You're-"

An evil grin appeared on his face.

"This is interesting" he said.

He held up his hand.

"I have a special name for you"

He waved his hand and summoned up a few words.

They weaved to create the girl's new name.

She looked at the words when they were finished.

"Ankoku" she muttered.

The man smirked darkly.

"That's right" he said.

He opened up a portal.

"Axel will be your mentor for the time being" he said.

"He shall be here soon to get you"

With that, he left them to travel around town.

/

Roxas and Ankoku walked aimlessly though the town.

They had no idea where they were and they had no idea who this Axel fellow looked like.

Heck, they didn't even know who they were.

It was as if they had just woken up for the first time.

Ankoku was in a daze as she walked.

She looked around the area without really paying any attention to her surroundings.

As she was walking, she got separated from Roxas.

She walked around the market place and bumped into people that she passed by.

She really didn't say anything as she walked.

She really didn't know how to.

Just then, an image appeared into her head.

She saw a certain area of the town, where a red head wearing a black cloak was at. He was standing with Roxas and appeared to be searching for something.

When the vision cleared, she started walking towards that direction.

Even though she didn't know where she was at, she let her instincts kick in.

She kept walking towards her destination, not really caring who she bumped into.

At one point, she bumped into a young woman and staggered a bit.

The woman grabbed her by the shoulders to steady her.

"Whoa, easy there"

Ankoku looked up at the person that helped her.

She appeared to be in her early twenties and had long black hair that was tied into a pony tail, with two long strands framing her face. She had deep purple eyes, that they made her face almost pop out.

She wore a greenish-gray tank top with a dark brown one underneath it.

Around her neck, she wore a yellow crescent moon necklace.

She had long fingerless black gloves that reached past her elbows and had two separate dark green kimono like sleeves that were tied on with brown straps.

She wore dark grey caprice that had opening on the sides to reveal dark brown shorts.

To top it all off, she wore black and white high tops.

The woman looked at her worriedly when saw the dazed look in Ankoku's eyes.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

Ankoku didn't know what to say to that.

She really didn't know what she was feeling.

When she didn't say anything, the woman tried talking to her again.

"What's your name, honey?"

Ankoku almost spoke like a robot when she said her name.

"Ankoku"

"Ankoku" the woman repeated.

"Ok, Ankoku. Are you searching for someone?"

She nodded.

"Who would that be?"

"Roxas" she said in that same robotic voice.

The woman looked around the area.

"Do you know what this Roxas looks like?"

Ankoku nodded and gave her a description of what Roxas looked like.

The woman gently grabbed her hand.

"I'll help you find her" she said.

"By the way, my name is Tsukiko"

Ankoku looked at her.

"Tsukiko" she repeated.

Tsukiko smiled.

"That's right"

The two of them walked around the town in search of Roxas.

When they got to the place that Ankoku saw in her head, she stopped.

Tsukiko looked at her.

"What's wrong?"

Ankoku looked at her.

"Roxas. Here" she said.

Tsukiko looked around the area.

There wasn't anyone in this part of town.

"I don't see anyone" she said.

Just then, someone placed their hand on Ankoku's shoulder.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

They turned around to see a rather familiar red head.

Axel was breathing heavily as if he had ran the whole time.

Roxas stood a little ways behind him.

Tsukiko's face lit up when she saw him.

"Axel!" she cried.

She smiled at him.

Axel returned the smile.

"Hey, Tsukiko" he said.

"I see that you found one of my stragglers?"

Tsukiko looked at Ankoku.

"She said she was looking for someone named Roxas, so I decided to help her" she said.

Ankoku walked up to Roxas and stood next to him.

She didn't say anything to him, but she just wanted to be near a familiar face.

Axel ran his hand through his red hair.

"Well, you saved me quite a bit of time" he said.

"I might as well take them back with me before they get lost"

Tsukiko nodded.

"Take care" she said.

Axel opened up a dark portal.

"Alright you two, fun time is over" he said.

He pointed towards the portal.

"Time to head back to the castle"

He pushed them through the portal and took them to a large looking castle.

As Ankoku looked at the castle, another vision came into her head.

This time, it was about her wearing the same black cloak that Axel and that man were wearing.

As they were walking, she didn't realize how twisted her life was going to be.

/

**A/N: I know it wasn't much, but I thought I'd introduce to you all the newest characters to the series.**

**I assure you, Ankoku will get better as the story progresses. **

**She was just 'born' after all, so she doesn't know how to react to things yet.**

**Please update and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	2. Number XVI

Chapter 2: Number XVI

**A/N: Hey everyone! This is where the story really starts off. We get to meet Xion in this chapter.**

**Sorry if the beginning sucks, intros and explaining things aren't really my strengths.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

_You gotta figure, _

_Everything starts someplace._

_The closest thing for me is when I was just seven days old,_

_And I meet her._

/

Seven days had gone by since Ankoku got her name.

Since that day, she was brought to a place called The Castle That Never Was and was given a black cloak to wear.

She really didn't know what was going on around her, but she did as she was told.

She was currently sleeping on the bed that was given to her.

She slowly woke up and stood up from her bed.

Walking out of her room, she saw Roxas a little ways down.

Since her arrival her, she had learned that Roxas was born on the same day as she was.

Their leader, Xemnas, called them the keyblade twins and made them the thirteenth member of their Organization.

She didn't know what this Organization really was, but she decided to just figure it out on her own.

She went up to Roxas and grabbed his hand.

It seemed that he really wasn't all there, so she had to guide him around.

She was like that as well, but she was a bit more alterative than he was.

They walked into the main lobby of the castle.

This was where everyone would hang out.

The only two people that were in the room were Axel, and the Superior's second in command, Saix.

Ankoku didn't know why, but he always sent this dark vibe when he was around.

She slowly walked up to him to see what he had in mind for the day.

The blue head just looked at her and Roxas coldly.

"Today is an important meeting" he said.

"I expect everyone to be on time"

They keyblade twins didn't say anything to him.

Roxas spotted Axel and tugged his sister towards him.

The red head smirked when he saw them.

"Hiya, Roxas, Ankoku"

They didn't say anything in return.

Axel just chuckled a little.

"Something I can help you with there, chatterboxes?"

Again, they didn't say anything.

Axel just rubbed his head.

"Ah, I remember now" he said.

"We were supposed to convene in the Round Room today. Yuck, meetings"

The twins gave him a blank look.

"Round…room…?" they said in unison.

Axel smirked.

"Yup. Apparently, the boss man's got some big news" he said.

"Wanna head over there now?"

They both nodded.

Axel led them to the Round Room.

/

The Round Room was a very strange place.

It consisted of thirteen chairs that had different heights that showed which members had more power.

Since Xemnas was the leader, he got the highest one.

Since Roxas and Ankoku were the Keyblade Twins, they had to share a seat.

They appeared to not mind it.

They always sat close to each other.

Xemnas waited until everyone was present before he started his meeting.

"Good tidings, friends"

His voice echoed throughout the room.

"Today is a momentous day" he said.

"I am pleased to announce that a new comrade has been chosen to wear the coat"

A young figure wearing the Organization's cloak stepped into the middle.

Judging from the size and appearance of this person, the figure seemed to be a girl.

Her face was hidden from everyone, save for her mouth and chin.

Xemnas grinned darkly.

"Number XVI" he announced.

Ankoku and Roxas recalled something like this happening to them seven days ago.

/

_After Axel had gotten them dressed in the Organization's outfit, he led them to the Round Room, where they were to be officially part of the Organization._

_Xemnas sat proudly in his seat._

"_Let us all welcome the Keyblade's chosen ones"_

_When Ankoku looked up at him, she saw that he had this creepy grin on his face._

/

Number XVI looked over at Roxas and Ankoku's direction and smiled.

Roxas gasped a little, while Ankoku tilted her head.

Why would she be smiling at them when she didn't even know them?

As they left the Round Room, Ankoku thought about what that smile could have meant.

/

**A/N: I know this was short, but I wanted to introduce Xion to everyone.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne.**


	3. Keyblades and Icing on the Cake

Chapter 3: Keyblades and Icing on the Cake

**A/N: Here we are with the next chapter. I'm glad you thought the last chapter was good, even though it was short. I promise, this one will be longer than the last one.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I just own Ankoku and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

_After Seven days of clinging to a number and a name,_

_I had trouble processing anything else._

_I couldn't have told you who the people in the black cloaks were,_

_Or what they wanted with me and Roxas._

/

The next day, Roxas and Ankoku went into the main lobby.

Saix was waiting for them.

"Roxas, Ankoku, your work begins today" he said.

"I will issue missions, which the Organization expects you to carry out"

They didn't say anything to him.

They had no idea what he was talking about.

"Think of these early missions as exercises" he said.

"You both still have much to learn before we out you to a real test. Axel will be joining you on your first time out"

He looked at the red head that was leaning against the back wall.

"Isn't that right, Axel?"

Axel stood up from his spot and gave Saix a tired glare.

"Oh boy" he said.

"What, you're making me their mentor now?"

He walked over to them.

Saix simply gave him a cold look.

"Surely you don't mind showing Roxas and Ankoku the ropes?" he asked.

"Come see me when you're ready"

With that, he walked off.

Axel looked at the twins.

"Well, you heard the man" he said.

"Starting today, I'm your babysitter"

They just gave him a blank look.

"Sheesh…quit acting like a pair of zombies, and let's get this show on the road"

They followed him to where Saix was.

He gave him the info they needed for this mission.

"Teach them well, Axel"

"Don't worry" Axel said.

"I'll make sure they get the passing grade"

He looked at the twins.

"Come on, you two"

They didn't seem to be paying attention to him.

They saw the newest member of the Organization standing a little ways off.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Axel asked.

"You worried about the new kid? What was that name again…"

He looked at Saix for the answer.

"Number XVI, Xion" he said.

"Right, I knew that" Axel said.

Roxas and Ankoku looked at Xion.

She still looked the same as when they saw her yesterday.

She still wore her hood up, but they could still see her mouth.

"Xion"

Axel smirked at them.

"Got it memorized, Ankoku, Roxas?"

They both looked at him.

"Yeah" Roxas said.

"Uh huh" Ankoku added.

Axel raised an eyebrow.

"You sure? How about my name?"

"It's Axel" Roxas said.

"And our boss's name?"

"Xemnas" Ankoku said.

Axel smirked.

"Very good! No way you're gonna forget his name, right? Now, let's get moving"

He opened up a dark portal and walked through it.

Roxas and Ankoku shortly followed after him.

/

Their mission was in Twilight Town.

The same place that they were 'born'.

Axel led them to one of the underground tunnels.

He looked at the twins.

"All right, let's start by talking about what we do on missions" he said.

"Ahem. Missions are…uhh….they're, you know….hrm"

He rubbed his head.

"You know what? Talking is dumb" he said.

"Let's just go ahead and get our hands dirty, shall we? Follow me"

They followed him as he went deeper within the tunnels.

They had to run and up over a few ledges to catch up with him.

Axel looked impressed.

"Not bad" he said.

"Thanks" Roxas said.

But don't think you can just run and jump your way through a mission" Axel said.

"You've gotta BE AWARE"

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You hafta look around" Axel said.

"Sometimes what you're after is sitting right under your nose. Got it memorized?"

They both nodded.

Axel smirked.

"All right, then time for a road test" he said.

"There's a treasure chest somewhere around here. I want you to find it"

"That's all we have to do?" Ankoku asked.

"I know, don't hurt yourself" Axel said sarcastically.

"Anyway, remember to look around"

They both started their search for the treasure chest.

Roxas looked for it in the higher places while Ankoku looked on the ground.

Ankoku really didn't know where to look.

If she just knew what it looked like, then it wouldn't be a problem.

Just then, an image appeared in her head.

She saw a treasure chest standing near the end of the cavern.

That gave her an idea of where the chest was.

"I know where it is" she said.

Axel raised an eyebrow.

He had been watching them search for the chest.

There was no way that she could find it that fast.

She wasn't even in the right spot.

"Oh really? Then where is it?"

Ankoku started running down one of the tunnels.

"Follow me"

Roxas followed her while Axel tagged behind.

When Ankoku reached the spot that she saw the chest, sure enough, it was there.

She looked at Axel.

"Is this the chest?" she asked.

"Sure is" Axel said.

"But how did you find it so quick?"

"I saw it in my head" Ankoku said.

"The image just suddenly appeared before me"

Axel mulled this over.

"It was almost like you could predict it" he said.

He grinned at her.

"Good job"

Ankoku just looked at the chest.

Axel raised an eyebrow.

"Um, what are you waiting for?" he asked.

Ankoku looked at him.

"The mission was to find the chest. Aren't we done?"

Axel just sweat dropped.

"Uh, Ankoku. There's this thing about chests. They have stuff inside them" he said.

"So I should open the chest?" Ankoku asked.

Axel nodded.

"Yes, that is generally what we do" Axel said.

"All you have to do, is summon your weapon to open it"

Ankoku didn't know how she was supposed to summon her weapon.

She never used one before.

Just then, she suddenly saw a bright light and felt something fill her hand.

She looked down to see a pure black keyblade handing from her hand.

She held it up and examined it.

She had never seen anything like before.

She turned to the chest and tapped her keyblade on it.

The chest opened up to reveal a set of potions.

Axel smirked.

"Good work" he said.

"You can keep what you found. All right, time to RTC"

Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"RCT?" he asked.

"Return to the Castle" Axel said.

"Just go back to the dark corridor that we went through and it should lead you back"

Roxas led the way back to the portal.

When they got there, Axel was clapping.

"Bravo" he said.

"So what do think? Got the hang of this mission thing?"

"Yeah" Ankoku said.

"It seems easy" Roxas said.

Axel smirked.

"Alright then, you two. Since you both did good, no successful mission is complete without a little icing on the cake. C'mon"

"But… don't we have to RCT?" Roxas asked.

Axel looked at him.

"Later" he said.

They followed him out of the tunnel and headed towards the town.

/

Axel lead them towards the town's clock tower.

They sat at the top and watched the sunset.

Axel sat next to them and held out three ice creams.

"Here you go" he said as he handed them one.

"The icing on the cake"

Roxas and Ankoku looked at the frozen treat.

"It's sea-salt ice cream" Axel said.

They each took a bite out of it.

"It's really salty" Roxas said.

"But sweet too" Ankoku added.

Axel chuckled a little.

They munched on their ice cream for the rest of the afternoon.

/

When it was time for bed, Ankoku sat at her bed.

She held this small blue journal that Saix had given her.

He said that each member had one and that they had to write their own thoughts in it.

She looked at the entry she put in yesterday.

"_It's been a week since I got here. Saix told me to keep a dairy, but he said nobody would check it. What am I suppose to write about? _

_They told us to go to the Round Room, where we met our new member, No. XVI. Was I like that when I first got here? I think I was. But I don't remember"_

Ankoku pulled out a pen and started writing on the next page.

She really didn't know what to write in these things, but she figured it would help her learn better.

"_Axel, Roxas and I went to Twilight Town today. He taught us a lot. Before we RTC'd (Returned to the Castle) we swung by the clock tower and had some sea-salt ice cream. Axel called it the 'icing on the cake' after a successful mission. Well, except there was no cake-just the ice cream._

_Also, when we were fulfilling our mission, I kept getting images of what was going to happen next. What does that mean? And why am I able to see these things? Maybe if I ask Axel, he'll know._

_I found out that I have a weapon called a keyblade. It's entirely black and is able to open up treasure chests. I don't really know what a keyblade does, but the Superior said it's a very powerful weapon. I wonder if Roxas has a keyblade too? Maybe I'll find out on our next mission"_

She closed her diary and placed it under her pillow.

As she got ready for bed, she thought about today's mission.

So many things ran through her mind.

So many questions that didn't have any answers.

As she closed her eyes, she thought about having Ice cream with Roxas and Axel again.

/

**A/N: Well, at least this chapter was longer, and we're starting to see Ankoku's powers. **

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	4. Lessons Learned

Chapter 4: Lesson's Learned

**A/N: Here were are with the next chapter! I'm going to compile some of the days together so we won't have so many short chapters.**

**Also, some of you have asked me what Ankoku's name means. **

**It means darkness (or at least what I've heard) since Hikari means light, her nobody gets the opposite name. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

_Day 9_

The next day, Roxas and Ankoku meet in the main lobby.

They were expecting to find Axel, but instead, they were greeted by Marluxia.

Saix was waiting for them, as usual.

"Roxas, Ankoku. Today you will be working with Marluxia" he said.

"See me when you're ready"

Marluxia smirked at them when he left.

"Well, there you have it" he said.

"Welcome to the fold, you two"

Ankoku looked at her twin brother.

She really didn't know what to expect from this guy.

Since their stay at the castle, the only other Organization member that they worked with was Axel.

They didn't know if they could trust him.

Roxas just shrugged, clearly showing he was thinking the same thing.

Ankoku just sighed and went over to Saix to get the Intel for their next mission.

They had to go to Twilight Town again.

/

Marluxia opened up a portal and brought them to the sandlot.

The whole area was deserted of people.

Just the way the Organization liked it.

Marluxia turned to the keyblade twins.

"Roxas and Ankoku, was it?" he asked.

"I never properly introduced myself"

He pointed to himself.

"I am Marluxia, Number XII"

They just nodded.

"Ok. So what do we have to do today?" Roxas asked.

Marluxia grinned.

"Today, your job is to collect hearts" he told them.

They both looked confused.

How were they suppose to do that?

"Um, how do we do that?" Ankoku asked.

"Could you summon your keyblades for me?" Marluxia asked.

They both nodded and summoned their weapons.

Roxas's keyblade looked entirely different from Ankoku's.

While hers was all black, his had a silver blade, and a yellow guard.

Marluxia sighed.

"Lucky Number XIII" he said.

"At last, the chosen wielders of the keyblades are amongst our ranks"

A group of heartless appeared before them.

"What are those?" Ankoku asked.

"Hmph. Nothing to be feared" Marluxia said.

"So, you two, shall we put those powers of your to a little test? Use your keybaldes…and defeat those heartless"

They held up their weapons out in front of them.

They really didn't know how to fight, but their bodies just moved on their own.

They ran to the group of shadows, and hacked away at them.

When they were gone, they looked at Marluxia.

The Graceful Assassin smirked at them.

"Good" he said.

"Those heartless were called shadows"

Roxas looked at him.

"But what are heartless?" he asked.

Ankoku was wondering the same thing.

"Dark creatures who roam about, searching for hearts" Marluxia explained.

"They come in two larger varieties. The ones you just defeated are known as purebloods. Purebloods don't release any hearts when you defeat them. In other words, don't bother with them. Your mission is to collect hearts. The other variety-"

Another group of heartless appeared before them.

They were entirely different from the shadows.

This group had emblems on them.

"Is right over there" Marluxia finished.

Roxas and Ankoku went to the group and attacked the heartless.

When each one was defeated, a heart would float up to the sky.

When the heartless were destroyed they went back to Marluxia.

The Graceful Assassin looked impressed.

"Those were what we call Emblem Heartless" he said.

"Why are they so special?" Ankoku asked.

"Did you notice? Hearts appeared when you defeated them" Marluxia said.

"Right…" Roxas said.

"Your job is to collect those hears" Marluxia explained.

"Is there any trick to it?" Roxas asked.

"None" Marluxia said.

"So long as the heartless are felled by your weapons, the keyblades, the hearts will be captured"

Ankoku mulled all of this over.

"I see. And what happens to the hearts that we collect?" she asked.

"They will gather as one, and create an almighty force known as Kingdom Hearts" Marluxia said.

"Which is…good, right?" Roxas asked.

Marluxia nodded.

"Completing Kingdom Hearts is the Organization's primary objective" he said.

"And to do that, we need all the hearts we can possibly find"

"So that's what the Organization does?" Ankoku asked.

"Collect hearts?"

"Actually, you both are the first of us to accomplish it" Marluxia said.

Roxas raised an eyebrow.

If they were the first to do that, then what did the others did?

"Wait, then-"

"The rest of us can defeat heartless, but we have no way of collecting the hearts they release" Marluxia said.

"Eventually, the hearts will turn right back into heartless. You see, then, how special you both are?"

He sighed wistfully.

"With powers like yours-"

Just then, more heartless appeared.

Roxas and Ankoku attacked them and released their hearts.

Marluxia smiled.

"Very good" he said.

"Since the mission is completed, you may RTC"

Roxas and Ankoku looked at each other, then back at Marluxia.

"Um"

Marluxia just flipped his hair over his shoulder.

"I have high hopes for you both-as do we all" he said.

"Defeat the heartless, and help the Organization reach our noble goal"

Ankoku nodded.

"Um, all right…" she said.

They went through the portal and called it a day.

_And that was how I found out the Organization's goal._

_So they wanted to collect these things called 'hearts'._

_I don't know what a heart was, or how it even mattered._

_But at least I knew what my part was._

/

_Day 10_

The next day, they were assigned to work with Zexion.

They were assigned to work at the Market Place in Twilight Town.

Zexion looked his students.

"Your mission today is to eliminate a set quantity of heartless" he said.

"The Organization may call upon you to meet other objectives-perform recon, for example. But regardless of the task you have been given, your primary orders still hold. You and those keyblades of yours serve us best by collecting hearts"

"So, even if we're given another job, we should keep taking out heartless while we do it?" Ankoku asked.

Zexion nodded.

"Correct. Today, however, the two happily coincide"

He told them to get rid of the heartless that were within the area.

The twins decided to split up since they figured they would get done faster.

They each had to destroy seven heartless before going back to Zexion.

Ankoku didn't need to look hard for the heartless.

She would just keep getting images of where they were in her head and would head in that direction.

When they were both done, they went back to Zexion.

"We each got seven of them" Roxas said.

"Now we get to RTC, right?" Ankoku asked.

Zexion just looked at them.

"Leave already?" he asked.

"I, for one, would apply myself a bit more"

Roxas looked taken aback.

"But we-"

"Yes, yes, you did as you were asked" Zexion said.

"Mission accomplished…but…"

A few more heartless appeared.

"As you can plainly see, there are still heartless wandering about" Zexion said.

"You don't have to eliminate them all. It's your choice. Just like I don't have to respect you both for slinking back to the castle while there's still work to be done"

Ankoku made a face at that.

Did he have to rub it in?

"And if that doesn't matter to you, just remember the Organization rewards those who make the extra effort"

At the mention of reward, Ankoku thought about Sea-salt ice cream.

Axel said that was a type of reward for finishing a mission.

She summoned her keyblade and looked at Roxas.

He merely shrugged and did the same.

They went through the market place and destroyed any heartless that they found.

When they made sure there were none left, they went back to Zexion to see what he said.

He nodded his head in approval.

"Very good" he said.

"I trust you'll both exhibit equal diligences in your missions going forward"

He summoned up a portal.

"All right, now that the mission is over, do you have any questions?"

Roxas looked at the ground for a moment.

"Yeah, um…" he said.

He looked at Zexion.

"Just what is Kingdom Hearts?" he asked.

"Marluxia said it was some kind of…of force. And when we defeat the heartless, those hearts pop out and become Kingdom Hearts, right? What's the point of it?"

Ankoku was thinking about that too.

Why was the Organization so obsessed with something called Kingdom Hearts?

What good would it do them?

"Kingdom Hearts will complete us" Zexion said.

"That's the Organization's goal"

That puzzled Ankoku.

What did he mean by completing them?

"Complete us?" she asked.

"Complete us how?"

"Both of you and I and all of the Organization's members are what we called Nobodies" Zexion explained.

Roxas made a face.

"Well, that's not very nice" he said.

Zexion sighed.

"With a capital N." he said.

"It's a name, for those of us who are missing a vital piece of who we are: our hearts"

Ankoku placed a hand where her heart should be.

She didn't have a heart?

"We don't have a heart?" she asked.

Zexion nodded.

"Correct. Like all of us, you both entered the world without one. But you can help us get them. Kingdom Hearts is made of the very things we lack-a multitude of hearts. It has the power to complete us. Are you starting to see why you're both so important? Each of us has a vital role in the Organization. Yours is collecting hearts"

So that explained why they were so important to the Organization.

They were the keys to getting everyone's hearts back.

And in order to get them, they had to collect enough hearts to create Kingdom Hearts.

Zexion walked to the portal.

"Let's go" he said.

They silently followed him back to the castle.

_I found out that Roxas and I are Nobodies-that we were incomplete._

_Just like the rest of them, we came into the world without hearts._

_Would it have made a difference?_

_If we had hearts…would that make us somebodies?_

/

_Day 11_

The next day, they were supposed to learn how to use magic.

They were partnered up with Larxene; Ankoku already knew she was going to dread this mission.

Not only did she not wait for them, she also gave them attitude.

Larxene just rolled her eyes in annoyance when she saw them.

"Ugh, this is the worst" she said.

"Whose idea was it to send me along on your stupid baby mission? Do I look like I run a nursery school?"

A tick mark appeared on Ankoku's forehead.

It wasn't her fault that this nymph was assigned with them.

Blame it on Saix.

Larxene continued her rant.

"Let Demyx handle this stuff" she said.

"It's not like he's good at anything else"

Roxas and Ankoku just looked at her.

Ankoku wanted to say something to her, but she didn't want to risk the chance of getting her head chopped off.

Larxene glared at them.

"What? WHAT? You got something to say?"

Roxas just looked at the ground.

Ankoku decided to defend her younger brother.

"No" she said.

Larxene just scoffed.

"Pfft, you'd be nothing without that keyblade" she said.

She suddenly had an evil smirk on her face.

"Oh ho! I just got an idea"

She pointed towards them.

"You both can do today's mission WITHOUT using your keyblades"

Roxas became angry.

"What? Why?" he asked.

Larxene glared at him.

"Because I said so, that's why!" she snapped.

"Saix told you to practice your magic today, didn't he? Well, sink or swim"

Ankoku scoffed at her.

"Yeah-sink" she said.

"We don't know how to use magic"

Larxene gave her a nasty look.

"Well, you aren't going to learn if you keep whipping that oversized key" she said.

A heartless appeared in front of them.

"Ah, perfect. There's a heartless"

She looked at the keyblade twins.

"Go in, take it out- and you have to use magic"

They slowly walked towards the heartless.

Ankoku had no idea how she was suppose to defeat this heartless without using her keyblade.

She figured Roxas was thinking the same thing.

How would they perform magic?

Images of fire rang through her head.

She started to feel her hand grow warm.

Lifting it up, she was sparks starting to come off her hand.

Ankoku figured out how to use magic and showed Roxas.

He followed her lead and the shot their hands out at the heartless.

Fire erupted from their fingertips and scorched the heartless to a crisp.

Ankoku smiled at her hard work.

Using magic wasn't as hard as she thought it would be.

When she thought that they were done for the day, more heartless appeared.

"Ooh, ooh, here come some more" Larxene said.

"Go on, wipe them out!"

Roxas looked at her.

"What happened to learning magic?" he asked.

Larxene rolled her eyes.

"Do you want to finish this awful mission or don't you? Just get to it"

Ankoku gripped Roxas's arm.

"Come on, Roxas. Let's just get this over with"

Roxas just sighed and summoned his keyblade.

They both got rid of the heartless quickly and went back to Larxene.

"Sheesh, about time" she said.

"Worst. Mission. Ever"

Roxas looked at the ground.

"If you're our keyblade wielders, then we're in big doo doo"

Ankoku glared at her.

"I didn't see you doing any of the work except barking out orders" she said.

She wasn't going to allow this witch to talk badly about Roxas.

It was up to her to defend him.

Larxene glared at her and grabbed her face tightly.

"If I were you, I would watch that mouth of yours, brat" she said.

"You and your brother better pull it together, or we'll never finish Kingdom Hearts"

She let go of her face.

"Unless, of course, we put somebody else on keyblade duty"

Roxas looked at her.

"What? You have somebody else besides us?"

Larxene glared at him.

"None of your beeswax" she said.

"You just worry about defeating heartless and collecting hearts for us"

She opened up a portal.

"Let's go-before you kill any more of my brain cells"

"_I doubt you have any left" _Ankoku thought.

As they walked through the portal, Ankoku came to one conclusion from this mission.

"_Least person I'll get along with in this Organization: Larxene"_

_They taught us that the Keyblades release hearts._

_But why do we have it?_

_How did we learn to use it?_

_The more I learned, the less I seemed to know._

/

_Day 12_

"_Second least person I'll get along with in this Organization: Vexen"_

The mad scientist was partnered with them on their latest mission.

"You're mine today" Vexen said to them before they left.

Ankoku secretly pull Roxas towards her.

She didn't like where this scientist was going.

"_That nut job isn't going to lay a finger on him"_

They arrived at Twilight Town for their latest mission.

"Now, listen carefully" Vexen said.

"Your mission today is to perform reconnaissance in this area"

Ankoku only had one word to sum up this mission.

Boring.

Roxas looked like he didn't understand what Vexen was talking about.

"Reconna-wha?" he asked.

"What about fighting heartless and collecting hearts?"

"Yeah, and what's with the big words?" Ankoku added.

"Speak English"

Vexen glared at them but didn't say anything.

"Oh, there's far more to the Organization than that" he said.

"Our work wouldn't go half as smoothly if we didn't gather the needed intelligence beforehand. Fortunately, you are in good hands. I will be by your side today to help stimulate those minds of yours. First take a look around the immediate area a d report anything unusual you find"

"You mean besides you?" Ankoku asked.

Vexen sneered at her.

"That's enough out of you, young lady" he said.

"Now get moving, but don't go too far"

They both nodded and started looking around the area.

When Vexen was out of sight, Ankoku sighed.

"We already started this mission, and I already think it's boring"

Roxas nodded.

"You and me both, Sis" he said.

Ankoku looked at him as he said.

Since they had been born, Roxas had never called her that.

Then again, he had never called her by her name.

She simply found it out that he could say it so easily.

She simply shrugged and let it pass.

"Let's just look at some stuff to amuse Vexen" she said.

They looked around at a few things before going back to him.

"We've searched the whole area" Ankoku said.

Vexen looked at them skeptically.

"All right, then, what have you learned?"

"Well, the town has a lot of overpasses and underpasses. And the train seems to circle around the plaza" Roxas said.

"And there was an entrance that looked like it led to underground, but it was shuttered"

"Anything else?" Vexen added.

Roxas tried to think of something, but Ankoku saved him.

"Yeah. This place seems to be really open. It's also very clean, so that means a lot of people pass through here"

Vexen nodded.

"Not bad for a first time" he said.

He opened up a portal.

"That concludes today's mission" he said.

"Any questions or concerns?"

Ankoku hoped that Roxas wouldn't ask anything, but of course he did.

"Are there going to be other missions like this?"

Vexen just sighed.

"Whenever the Organization needs to know more about a world, naturally"

That caught Ankoku's attention.

There were other worlds besides Twilight Town?

Vexen kept going on.

"Every world is unique, with its own terrain, values, heartless population-any number of variables that could be turned to our advantage in the missions ahead"

"Wait, 'every word'?" Ankoku asked.

"You mean there's more than one?"

Vexen nodded.

"Yes. You didn't think you would be mulling here forever, did you? You will visit many worlds for many reasons…but our ultimate goal remains the same"

Ankoku rolled her eyes.

"Kingdom Hearts. Yeah, yeah, we know"

Vexen glared at her.

"You've got quite a little mouth on you today" he said.

He pointed towards the portal.

"Our mission is done, so get a move on"

Ankoku just rolled her eyes.

"Yes, sir" she said.

She looked at her twin brother.

"Come on, Roxas"

He followed her like a lost puppy as they headed home.

_Later on, I discovered the job was more than just a commute between the castle and that town._

_The walls between worlds are steep, so we create our own way:_

_Dark corridors which lead to every place imaginable._

/

_Day 13_

Their last day of training was spent with the Silent Hero, Lexaeus.

He was suppose to show them how to use their limit breaks.

Ankoku had to step back when she saw him.

Even though he didn't say much, he gave off the feeling that he could pulverize her.

Roxas looked nervous when they made it to their destination.

He looked at Lexaeus.

"So, um-" he said.

Lexaeus looked at them.

"Do you know what a limit break is?" he asked.

They both shook their heads.

"It is the most powerful move at your disposal-" he said.

"One that only works when you're on your last leg"

Just then a giant heartless appeared.

"A heartless" Roxas said.

"Time for some practical application" Lexaeus said.

Ankoku looked at him.

"Huh?"

Just then, she felt the wind knock out of her.

She fell over in a heap and held her stomach.

Roxas looked at her, wondering what was wrong until he was on the ground as well.

Ankoku resisted the urge to puke as she glared at Lexaeus.

She staggered to her feet and held her side.

"Owww. Mutt muzz zat for?"

She groaned in pain.

"_Why couldn't I see that happening before it did?" _she thought.

"_He really packs a punch"_

"There. Now you're on your last legs" Lexaeus said.

"Let see you use your limit breaks and defeat that heartless"

Ankoku looked at Roxas to see if he was ok.

He was hunched over in pain, but he appeared to be alright.

She summoned her keyblade and staggered towards the heartless.

Roxas followed after her.

Ankoku didn't know how she and Roxas were going to defeat this heartless when they were injured.

Just then, their keyblades started to rattle and felt an energy stir within them.

They felt their bodies move on their own and attacked the heartless with rapid swings.

When it was down for the count, they staggered back to Lexaeus.

He nodded in approval.

"Well fought" he said.

They just groaned.

"Organization members are often asked to conduct solo missions" he continued.

"The only person you can count on out there is yourself"

Ankoku winced.

"So we've noticed, Ugh…"

"You and the keyblades are invaluable to the Organization" Lexaeus said to them.

"With your job, however, comes risk. Each mission will pit you against more and more heartless"

"And we have to face them if we're gonna complete Kingdom Hearts?" Roxas asked.

"Correct" Lexaeus said.

"So what happens when Kingdom Hearts is finished?" Ankoku asked.

"What good does that do us?"

Lexaeus looked up at the sky.

"We will unite with it" he said.

"We will gain hearts of our own"

Roxas looked at the ground.

"I don't understand" he said.

"When the time comes, you will" Lexaeus said.

"But in the meantime, there are deeds to be done, and you must both do them"

"So you need us" Ankoku pointed out.

Lexaeus nodded.

"_Super" _Ankoku thought.

They went back to the castle to heal their sore limbs.

_Our group had its good apples just like it had its bad._

_But everybody wanted the same thing:_

_To complete Kingdom Hearts._

_What is Kingdom Hearts?_

_What happens when we gather enough hearts and finish it?_

_I didn't know then…still don't…._

_But I'll fight for my chance to be someone whole-_

_Fight against the darkness, however long it takes._

/

That night, Ankoku scribbled in her diary.

She was still wound up from her mission, so she decided to write a bit.

Roxas was fast asleep in his bed.

Since they were twins, they shared a room.

She looked over at what she had written.

"_The past few days, the other members have been showing Roxas and I how to fight and do mission stuff. They told us more about the Organization , and about us. I still don't get what a 'heart' is. But apparently, it's a vital piece of who we are-so I've decided to cooperate (for now). If Roxas and I collect enough hearts, we can complete Kingdom Hearts. Then, we'll be whole."_

She sighed as she read this.

It didn't seem much.

She added something underneath it.

"_I've also been having those strange visions again. When we go on missions, it's like I'm seeing what's about to happen next. Is that normal? Can Roxas see these things too? Maybe it's some kind of special power. I heard that each member of the Organization has their own kind of power. I'll have to look into it more later"_

She closed her diary and turned off the desk's lamp.

Going over to her bed, she saw that Roxas had the covers all over his place on his bed.

She sighed and fixed them up.

"You're helpless sometimes" she said to herself.

She crawled into her own bed and slept for the night.

As she was sleeping, she kept seeing images of a heart shaped moon in the sky.

/

**A/N: So what do you think? Ankoku is getting her own personality now. A little sarcastic chick, isn't she?**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	5. Friends

Chapter 5: Friends

**A/N: Here we are with the next chapter! I hope you all like it.**

**We also get to see Tsukiko again. Sorry if her introduction sucks, but intro's are not my specialty.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

The next day, Ankoku and Roxas walked into the main lobby.

Ankoku groaned.

"I wonder who we're going to be partnered up with this time" she said.

"Hey you guys"

They turned around to see Axel coming towards them.

He smiled slightly at them.

"It's the three of us again today"

Ankoku let out a sigh of relief.

"Finally, someone who I can actually get along with"

Axel chuckled.

"Aww, did someone have a bad week?"

Ankoku gave him a weak glare.

"Don't even get me started" she said.

"Whatever. Let's just get this mission done then" Axel said.

They nodded and followed him through the dark portal that he created.

/

They stepped out into one of the alley ways of Twilight Town.

Axel looked at Roxas and Ankoku.

"So this is our second mission together" he said.

Ankoku nodded.

"So it would seem" she said.

Roxas really didn't say anything.

"Sheesh, don't talk my ear off" Axel said sarcastically.

Ankoku just patted Roxas on the back.

"Come on Roxas, don't act like such a zombie"

Roxas just nodded.

"Let's get this mission done then" Axel said.

They nodded and started their mission.

/

Their mission was simple.

They just had to get rid of the heartless that were all over the town and collect their hearts.

They all decided to split up so they could get the job done faster.

Ankoku took care of the clock tower area, while Roxas took the allies and Axel took the sandlot.

She hacked through a hoard of heartless with her black keyblade.

Now that she knew how to fight properly, this became easy for her.

When she was finished, she looked up at the clock tower.

She remembered when Axel took her and Roxas up there to eat ice cream.

Her mouth watered slightly at the thought about the salty, yet sweet treat.

"_I should get some after this mission is over" _she thought.

"Hey, there!"

Ankoku turned around to see Tsukiko coming towards her.

She still looked the same from when she first met her.

Tsukiko smiled as she got closer to her.

"Hi" she said.

"You're that girl that I helped out a few days ago, right? You're name's Ankoku?"

Ankoku nodded.

"Yeah, and you're Tsukiko"

Tsukiko looked surprised.

"Wow, you remember my name"

Ankoku nodded again.

"Uh huh"

Tsukiko placed a hand on her hip in a normal manner.

"Well, then, Ankoku. What brings you here?"

Ankoku bit her lip.

She didn't know if she was supposed to talk about the heartless stuff.

The superior said that they were not supposed to communicate with people who weren't with the Organization, but she already blew that part.

"_But now that I think about it, Axel seemed to know about her"_

AS she thought about Axel, she came up with an idea.

"I was just hanging out with Axel" she said.

"He was showing me around town"

Tsukiko raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, really?"

Ankoku nodded.

"Yep. But I kind of lost him. We were suppose to meet in the back allies"

"Oh, if you're lost, then I can help you" Tsukiko said.

"Nobody knows this town better than I do. Besides, I was going to see if he was around. I was going to ask him if he wanted some ice cream"

Ankoku's mouth watered slightly.

Tsukiko grinned and started walking.

"Come on, just follow me"

Ankoku just looked at her for a moment, before following her.

/

They really didn't have to walk too far.

Since there were so many allies, they could just go through them to get to the other side of town.

Tsukiko looked at Ankoku as they walked.

"You sure are a lot different from the last time that I saw you" she said.

"Back then, you acted like a zombie"

Ankoku just rubbed her head nervously.

How was she supposed to say that she was born that day?

"Yeah, um, I wasn't really all that there" she said.

Technically, that was true.

She really didn't know what happened that day, except that she was given a name and that she bumped into the person that she was walking with.

Tsukiko nodded in understanding.

"I know how that can be" she said.

"I'm like that too sometimes when I'm having an off day. Axel is always telling me that I need to get my head out of the clouds"

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

She was wondering how she knew Axel.

"How is it that you know Axel?"

Ankoku just smirked.

"He and I have been friends for a long time" she said.

"I met him over a year ago. I was on my way home and this group of heartless came out of nowhere. I had no way to defend myself and was about to become food for them, but then he appeared and saved the day. We've been close ever since"

Ankoku's eyes widened slightly.

She knew about the heartless?

She thought that normal people couldn't see them.

Tsukiko giggled at her expression.

"What? Did you think I didn't know about heartless?" she asked.

"How can anybody not? They're all over the place, but some people just don't know it"

Ankoku didn't say anything to that.

She didn't know what to say.

All this time, she thought that heartless only came out when a nobody appears.

It seemed that the Organization was keeping some things from them.

Tsukiko looked ahead and saw Axel and Roxas standing near the portal that they came through.

"Axel!"

The red head looked at her and smirked.

"Well if it isn't my lovely lady, Tsukiko"

Tsukiko just smiled as they came up to the guys.

"I ran into Ankoku and decided to see if you were around"

She spotted Roxas standing behind Axel.

"Hey, you're that other guy who was with Axel"

She held her hand out towards him.

"I'm Tsukiko" she said.

Roxas looked at her hand for a second before shaking it.

"Roxas" he said.

Tsukiko smiled at him.

She let go of his hand and studied him for a bit.

"Hmm. You and Ankoku have the same jacket as Axel does" she observed.

"Then that must mean you're part of the Organization"

Roxas looked a little surprised.

"You know about the Organization?"

Tsukiko nodded.

"Yep. Axel's told me all about it"

"More like forced me to tell you" Axel retorted.

Tsukiko just laughed as she leaned against the pyro maniac.

"Oh come on. I was just worried about you and what you did for a living. It's not a crime to wonder what their friend does"

Axel just rolled his eyes at her.

"Uh huh, sure"

Ankoku just watched as they talked with each other.

From the way they were acting, they seemed to be really close.

She also could have sworn that she saw Axel's cheeks flush a tiny bit.

Roxas silently watched them too.

He didn't know why Axel was acting this way towards someone.

Just then, a group of kids came running by.

The group consisted of a boy with blond hair wearing combat pants and a gray shirt. A girl with brown hair wearing an orange outfit. And a boy with spiky brown hair wearing a red shirt and blue outfit.

The blond stopped running and looked at his friends.

"Move it, Pence!"

The brown haired boy ran over to him and leaned on his knees.

"Hey, wait!" Pence wheezed.

The blond just put his hand on his hip.

"Last one there has to buy the winner ice cream" he said.

The girl made a face.

"Oh, sure, now you tell us!" she said.

Pence pouted.

"No fair, Hayner!" he said.

Hayner just shrugged.

"Better get flyin' if you don't wanna end up buyin' !" he said.

They all ran past the group and headed for the market area.

Roxas looked at Axel.

"Who are they?" he asked.

Axel just shrugged.

"Just a bunch of kids who live here" he said.

"Their names are Hayner, Pence, and Olette" Tsukiko said.

"I look after them from time to time"

Roxas just looked where the three had gone.

"They sure acted weird" he said.

"You're only saying that because they actually talk and not just look at people" Ankoku pointed out.

"What makes you think they were weird?" Tsukiko asked.

Roxas looked at her.

"Well, why did those last two seem to be enjoy getting pushed around like that?" he asked.

"They were even making those 'ha ha' noises"

Tsukiko just giggled.

"Aww, you're so cute acting clueless" she said.

Axel just shook his head at how oblivious Roxas could be.

"You mean laughter?" he asked.

"Sometimes people with hearts do that when it doesn't make any sense"

Roxas looked away.

"Oh…then I guess they're different from us" he said.

Axel just gave him a small look.

"Come on. Let's go get some ice cream"

Ankoku's face lit up at the mention of ice cream.

"_Finally!"_

Roxas looked at him.

"Why?"

Axel made a face.

"Whaddya mean, why?" he said.

"Because we're friends"

Roxas tilted his head slightly.

"So…friends are people who have ice cream together?

Axel nodded.

"Sort of…that or laugh at stupid stuff that doesn't make any sense. Like those kids we saw-they were friends"

Tsukiko looked at Axel.

"Do you mind if I come along?" she asked.

"I want to get to know more about your friends"

Axel just shrugged.

"You'd come anyway if I said no, so sure"

Tsukiko grinned at that.

"Good. Then I'll go get the ice cream. I'll meet you at the usual spot"

She ran off to the market place to get the frozen treat while the trio went up to the clock tower.

/

While Hayner, Pence and Olette were racing to see who would win an ice cream.

Our four companions were sitting on the clock tower, eating their frozen treat.

Ankoku relished is her tasty treat.

Tsukiko would ask her and Roxas about themselves and what they did in the Organization.

"So what number are you guys? Do you have a fancy weapon? What's your special power?"

Since Roxas really wasn't talking much, Ankoku decided to speak for him.

"Well, since we're twins, we make number XIII. We have this weapon called a keyblade. As for special powers…I don't really know"

Axel had his popsicle stick dangling from his mouth as he looked at her.

"What about that trick of your where you see something happen before it does?"

Tsukiko looked amazed.

"You can see into the future? That's amazing!"

Ankoku just looked away.

She didn't know what to say.

She never thought that her powers would fascinate anyone.

Axel looked at the twins and smirked.

"Hey you guys, after your next mission, let's meet back here and have ice cream again"

Roxas looked at him.

Axel just smirked.

"I mean, who wants to spend their days just bouncing between work and the castle, right?"

Ankoku smiled at that.

"If there's ice cream involved, count me in"

Tsukiko ruffled her hair.

"Yeah, and it's nice to finally hang out with another girl"

Roxas laughed.

"Hey, I laughed a little" he said.

"I guess we really are friends"

Ankoku smiled and ran a hand through his hair.

"And you're actually talking" she said.

"That's an improvement"

Roxas just shyly smiled at his sister.

/

Later that day, Ankoku was writing in her diary.

"I don't see why we have to write in these things" Roxas said.

He wasn't too keen about writing in his journal as she was.

Maybe it was because he really didn't pay attention to what was happening around him to want to write something.

Ankoku just rolled her eyes.

"If you don't have anything to write, then just draw something" she said.

"It'd be pointless to leave it blank"

Roxas just grumbled and just scribbled in his journal.

Ankoku just sighed and went back to writing into hers.

"_Roxas, Axel and I went on a mission to Twilight Town. Afterwards, we went and had ice cream again up on the clock tower. I also saw Tsukiko again today. She seemed to be glad that I wasn't acting like a zombie. I don't know why she would be, but I'll just go along with it. She also seems to know about the Organization and the heartless. She claims that Axel told her, but I don't know why he would tell anyone about us. Aren't we supposed to keep tight lip about it? I also noticed that his face was a little red when he was near her. Why would his face react that way? He's never like that when Roxas and I are around. Sometimes, I don't understand what goes on around me. Roxas is starting to open up more and not being quiet. That's good on my part because I'm getting tired of talking for him. I know I'm his twin and that I'm suppose to look after him and all, but he needs to take care of himself. We'll probably be going on solo missions soon, and I won't be there to back him up. I hope after my next mission, I'll get to have ice cream with Axel and Tsukiko. They said friends do stuff like that, or laugh at useless things. Does that mean we're friends? I guess I'll just have to see"_

She put her diary away and headed for bed.

She saw Roxas getting ready for bed as well.

"Do you think we'll have ice cream with Axel again?" he asked.

Ankoku shrugged and she got under the covers.

"I guess" she said.

"He did say that we should do it again after our next mission"

Roxas got into his bed as well and turned off the lights.

"I hope so" he said.

"I want to be able to laugh again like that"

Ankoku smiled at him through the dark.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you will"

They went to sleep that night, dreaming about when they would share ice cream with their new friends.

/

**A/N: (sweat drops) I know that sucked, but it was better than nothing.**

**So Tsukiko knows about the Organization, and it seems Axel is affected by her when she's around. Do I detect romance in the air? You'll just have to keep reading to find out. **

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	6. Power's controlled

Chapter 6: Power's controlled

**A/N: Hey everyone! I'm sure everyone can tell what's going to happen in this chapter. We get to learn more about Ankoku's powers. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

The next few days went by too slow for Ankoku.

Since Saix figured that she and Roxas had gotten all of their training done, then that meant that they could start going on Solo missions.

She was fine with it, but she wasn't so sure if Roxas would be ok.

While he was starting to open up, he was still a space cadet. If he was on his own, who knows what kind of trouble he would get into?

Not only was Roxas on her mind, but so were those random visions that she would get.

Every time she would go on a mission, she would keep seeing images of what was going to happen. It was like she knew how the mission was going to end before it did.

It was starting to give her a head ache.

She figured that these were her Nobody powers.

"_If that's the case, then I should learn how to control them"_

Only one problem: she didn't know how.

She figured Axel wouldn't know what to do, and there was no way she was going to ask Saix or the Superior.

Saix always looked like he had a stick up his ass and appeared to be itching for a fight.

And the Superior just made her skin crawl.

Every time she passed him, he would have this creepy grin on his face.

What did he have to be so happy about?

And why would he smile at her like that?

"_This place is filled with nut jobs" _she thought.

/

The next day, she was sent to Twilight Town on a Solo mission.

Her objective was to destroy some heartless.

"_Gee, what a shocker!" _she thought sarcastically.

"_This is totally different from what Saix usually has me do. Not"_

She summoned her black keyblade and started walking.

She didn't need to look too hard for the heartless since visions of them kept popping into her head.

"Well, at least I'll get this done quicker" she said.

She went through the town and hacked away at the heartless.

When she was done, she grabbed her head.

Since she had those visions, she got a major headache.

"If this is how each mission is going to end, then I'm not going to enjoy getting Kingdom Hearts"

She sluggishly headed back to the dark portal to RTC.

She figured that it would be a while before Roxas and Axel finished their missions.

"Man, would I kill for a sea-salt ice cream" she said.

She could have gotten one now, but she made a promise with them that they would always eat ice cream together after their missions.

So until they were done with their mission, she had to wait for them.

As she made her way to the portal, she heard a very familiar voice.

"Hey, Ankoku!"

She turned around to see Tsukiko walking towards her.

She couldn't help but smile when she was the woman.

There was something about her that put her at ease.

She was easy to talk to and she would lighten the mood around everything.

When she got the chance to eat ice cream with her and the guys, she would make everyone laugh.

She even made Axel smile brightly at her.

"_I wonder if there's something going on between those two" _she thought_._

When Tsukiko got to her, she noticed Ankoku's tired look and frowned.

"What happened to you?" she asked.

Ankoku just groaned and held her head.

"Nothing" she said.

"It's just that, whenever I'm on a mission, I keep getting those images of what's going to happen and by the end of the day, I get really bad headaches. I don't know why I keep seeing these things, but it's really starting to get to me"

Tsukiko thought about this for a moment.

"Hmm, it sounds like your powers are starting to kick in" she said.

"I remember Axel telling me that when his powers were starting to kick in, he would sprout fire from his hands at random times. The only way he could harness it better was to practice wielding it and gaining control"

She studied her for a moment.

"And from what you're telling me, it seems like your power is to see into the future"

She placed her hands on her hips.

"I say, the best way to control it, is to fight with someone"

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

"Fight?"

Tsukiko nodded.

"Yeah. How else are you going to control your powers? I highly doubt you can do it by yourself"

She pulled out a few throwing knives and held them between her fingers.

"Come on. I'll help you" she said.

"Just try to predict which hand I'm going to throw knives with and try to see how many I throw at you"

Ankoku sighed and summoned her keyblade.

"This is going to be fun" she said sarcastically.

She watched Tsukiko carefully.

She studied her hands and determined which one she would throw knives at her.

"_Hmm. From what I've seen of her, she seems to be a right handed person. I'm guessing she's going to throw with her right and first"_

She went to block Tsukiko on her right side, but what taken aback when she threw knives from her left hand.

Ankoku got thrown back as the knives got her.

They didn't pierce her, but they nicked her arms and legs.

She fell on her butt and looked at the young woman.

Tsukiko placed hands on her hips.

She wore an all knowing smirk.

"Don't think by what you've known" she said.

"And don't trust your eyes. They can deceive you in more ways in one. Try using a different approach"

Ankoku gave her a dull glare.

"Well, how am I suppose to use my powers if I can't see you?" she said.

Tsukiko sighed and shook her head.

"You really don't get it, do you?" she said.

"Seeing the future doesn't actually mean you can 'see' it. It's the inner eye, the one that we see with our soul. Instead of relying on your eyes, try seeing with your soul. Reach deep within the core of your being and bring fourth that power. Only then can you gain control of it"

Ankoku grumbled as she stood up.

How was it that she knew so much about her powers when she, herself couldn't?

"_Maybe it's because she's older than me and know more than I do" _she thought.

She held out her keyblade and looked at Tsukiko.

She didn't know how she was going to attack next, so she decided to listen to what she said.

She closed her eyes and tried to reach deep within her being.

She felt an energy circulating through her veins as she unlocked her powers.

She saw an image of Tsukiko throwing her knives at her, using her right hand.

She opened her eyes quickly and saw just Tsukiko throwing her knives at her just in time.

She blocked every single blade that was thrown at her.

They did this for a few more minutes before they stopped.

Tsukiko grinned at her.

"Nicely done" she said.

"I think you've got the hang of it"

Ankoku was breathing heavily as she looked at her.

She was finally able to harness her powers, but it took a lot out of her.

She gave her a weak smile.

"I guess I have" she said.

"Thanks"

Tsukiko just grinned as she placed her knives away.

"No problem" she said.

"That's what friends are for"

The bell to the clock tower chimed its evening bells.

"Would you look at the time" Tsukiko said.

"I'm sure Axel and Roxas should be done with their missions by now. Let's go meet up with them"

Ankoku nodded and dismissed her weapon.

She sluggishly followed Tsukiko as they made it to the clock tower.

/

Axel and Roxas waited for Ankoku as they ate their ice cream.

Roxas looked around for his sister.

Since they had started their solo missions, he worried about her.

He was so lonely without her.

His missions became so boring without her.

When they heard footsteps, they turned around to see the girls coming towards them.

Tsukiko wore a playful pout on her face as she looked at Axel.

"What? You already ate your ice cream without me?"

Axel chuckled and held an ice cream bar out for her.

"As if" he said.

"It would be boring eating ice cream without you"

Tsukiko giggled and sat next to him on the ledge.

She nuzzled her face against him as she ate.

Ankoku watched them as she sat down.

Why was she acting that way towards Axel?

She had never seen someone react the way that she did.

Her face lit up when Roxas gave her an ice cream bar.

She chomped on the frozen treat, ignoring the frozen pain it left on her teeth and the sudden brain freeze.

Roxas chuckled as he watched his sister.

"So how was your mission, sis?"

Ankoku groaned.

"Boring as ever" she said.

"Although, I did manage to harness my little sightseeing power, thanks to Tsukiko"

Axel looked at Tsukiko.

"What? You're helping the newbie?"

Tsukiko shrugged as she munched on her ice cream.

"Hey, friends need to look out for each other. And I highly doubted that you were going to help her"

Axel just playfully shoved her.

The rest of the day was spent with them laughing at useless things and just having a good time.

/

When night time came, Ankoku was doing what she usually did before she went to bed.

Write in her diary.

She didn't know why, but she found it as a way to help her fall asleep.

Roxas absolutely despised writing in his, but she figured that he really didn't know what to write.

Instead, he would just doodle in it.

Ankoku just finished up her latest entry and reread everything.

"_Today I was finally able to control my special powers. Tsukiko helped me out and showed me that I needed to reach deep within myself. She seems to know a lot of stuff. Afterwards, we had ice cream with Roxas and Axel. Roxas is starting to become more talkative, much to my relief. Also, Tsukiko was acting weird around Axel. Normally, she calm and collective around me, but when's she's by Axel, she gets all weird and starts cuddling her. I would think that Axel would be annoyed by it, but it seemed like he didn't mind it. He was even smiling gently at her, which he never does with anyone_. _I wonder if there's something going on between them? Maybe if I study them a bit more, then I'll figure it out. Looks like Vexen's lesson is starting to pay off (although I won't admit it). I wonder how many more solo missions I need to go on? It gets really boring just fighting heartless all by myself. I have no one to talk to and no one to talk back at. We better get this stupid Kingdom Hearts soon, otherwise, I'm going to lose my mind"_

She closed her journal and went to be.

That night, she had a vision of something that was going to happen soon.

She saw Xion, but she was taking her hood off and revealing her face.

The rest was just a blur to her.

/

**A/N: So she finally figured out her powers. Now things are going to get really interesting for Ankoku. What will she see with her powers? **

**You'll just have to review to find out.**

**Ja ne**


	7. Left Behind

Chapter 7: Left Behind

**A/N: Hey everyone! I'm sure you know what' going to happen next. Things are about to change within our group or Nobodies, and it's not going to be fun.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

After days of doing solo missions, Ankoku finally got her wish.

Today, she was paired up with Axel and Roxas on a mission to destroy a heartless.

She could just see it now.

They quickly destroy the heartless, then head up to the clock tower for some ice cream.

It was all set.

Nothing could ruin this.

/

When they arrived at Twilight Town, Axel looked at them.

"Ok, let's get this done fast" he said.

"What was today's target again? A guardian?"

Roxas nodded.

"Uh, oh, yeah, sure" he said.

Ankoku looked at her brother skeptically.

"You are such a zombie today" she said.

"You want Axel and I to go have all of the fun while you figure it out? C'mon"

Axel ruffled her hair.

"Alright, Miss Seer. Since you can see into the future, then you must know where our target is"

Ankoku glared at him as she fixed her hair.

Since she found out that she could see into the future, Xemnas was told of it.

The Superior seemed thrilled at the aspect of having a Nobody that could predict what was to happen.

"_You shall be the key to our goal" _he told her.

The way that he looked and spoke to her sent chills down her spine.

Why did her boss have to be so creepy?

And what did he mean that she would be the key?

If it came from his mouth, that couldn't be good.

She sighed in annoyance and closed her eyes.

She tapped deep within her powers to try to see where the heartless would be.

She kept getting images of the sandlot.

She opened her eyes.

"It's in the sandlot" she said.

They all headed towards the sandlot to take out their target.

/

When they got there, they were greeted by a giant guardian heartless.

"There's are target" Axel said.

Ankoku summoned her keyblade.

"Lovely" she said sarcastically.

Axel summoned his Chakrams.

"Here we go!" he said.

"And keep your head out of the clouds, Roxas"

Roxas nodded and summoned his keyblade.

"Right"

They all ran at the heartless and sent a barrage of attacks to it.

Ankoku noticed that it had this little attack where it would shot a beam of energy at them and stun them for a few minutes.

It took them a good half hour before the things was finally down.

"Mission accomplished" Axel said.

Roxas and Ankoku dismissed their weapons.

Axel smirked at them.

"Hey, gotta say, you've both come a long way in just a handful of days" he said.

"You ready to head back?"

They both nodded.

/

Just before they headed back to the castle, they headed up to the clock tower and had their usual ice cream.

Axel sighed as he watched the sunset.

"I'm gonna miss this ice cream thing we do" he said.

The twins looked at him.

"Huh?"

"Why?"

Axel looked at them.

"Starting tomorrow, I'm gonna be away" he said.

Roxas hung his head while Ankoku let the Popsicle stick dangle from her mouth.

"Oh" they said.

Axel sighed and looked at the sunset.

"But, since you're my buddies, I guess I can fill you in" he said.

"I'm gonna be at Castle Oblivion for a while"

"What's that?" Roxas asked.

"The Organization's got a second castle situated in the world between worlds" Axel said.

"It's called Castle Oblivion. Got it memorized?"

"Yeah" Roxas said.

"I wish people told us these things"

Ankoku rolled her eyes.

"We're the newbies" she said.

"Why would they bother telling us this kind of stuff when you're acting like a zombie half the time"

Roxas sent her a glare.

"Hey! I am not!"

The two of them bickered for a bit before they laughed it off.

Axel smirked at them and stood up.

"Well, I gotta head back and get ready. Fun, fun, fun"

He looked at them.

"You take your time and enjoy the rest of the day"

Ankoku looked at him for a moment and saw a vision of him with Tsukiko.

She seemed sad as Axel told her something, but he just brushed the hair out of her face and gave her that cocky smile he was known for.

She smiled at him and handed him her moon shaped necklace before hugging him tightly.

When the vision faded, she had an all knowing smirk.

"You're just going to see Tsukiko" she said.

Axel wore a scowl on his face.

"And if I am?"

Ankoku just snorted.

"You're too predictable sometimes"

Axel just rolled his eyes at her.

"Hardy-har-har" he said.

He walked past her and ruffled her hair.

"Try not to get into any trouble while I'm gone" he said.

Ankoku fixed her hair and looked at him.

"I could say the same for you!" she called out.

Axel just waved at her as he left.

When he left, the two of them continued to eat their ice cream in silence.

When Roxas finished his, he looked at his stick.

"Huh?"

Ankoku looked at him.

"What' up?"

Roxas held up the stick to reveal the word 'Winner' was on it.

Ankoku smiled.

"Wow, Roxas. You won"

Roxas looked at the stick confused.

"But what did I win?"

Ankoku just shrugged.

"Who knows" she said.

She stood up and stretched.

"It's getting late, so we might as well head back"

Roxas nodded and stood up.

He stuck the winner stick in his pocket as they left.

/

That night, Ankoku scribbled in her dairy.

She wrote about her latest vision she had, but also what happened today.

"_Axel is going to some strange place called Castle Oblivion. He told Roxas and I about it because he said we're his buddies. Then he had to leave early to 'get ready' but I had a vision about him seeing Tsukiko. He was probably telling her that he was leaving, but she seemed sad about. Then she gave him her moon necklace and hugged her tightly. I think Tsukiko and Axel are acting more than just friends. I've seen a few people acting like they do around Twilight Town and they don't act like friends. I'll have to ask Tsukiko when I have time off. Also, when Roxas finished his ice cream, it said WINNER on it. I wonder what he won? We'll just have to find out tomorrow"_

She closed her dairy and went to bed.

That night, she had a very disturbing dream.

It was about Tsukiko and it seemed like she was upset over something.

_She was on the ground and had her hands in her face._

_Her body shook and trembled._

"_Why?" she choked._

"_Why did he have to die too?"_

_She removed her hands to reveal water running down her face._

_Ankoku had never seen that before, so she didn't know that they were tears._

_Tsukiko hiccupped as she held herself._

"_Why did you have to die too?" _

She would find out later that this someone was a certain red head.

/

**A/N: So Axel is gone, but a new familiar face will make its appearance. It looks like Ankoku is going to make another friend.**

**I'm sorry if I keep doing the dairy thing at the end, but I thought you would like to know what goes on in Ankoku's mind.**

**Update soon and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	8. Xion

Chapter 8: Xion

**A/N: Hey everyone! We finally get to see Xion! Or rather, get to know her better. I wonder how she'll react around Ankoku and Roxas?**

**I also know that I've been doing a lot of Axel x Tsukiko parts, even though this is mainly a Riku romance story, but since I can't think of a separate story for Axel, I'm just trying to smash it in here. Plus, Tsukiko plays an important part in this story, so sorry for the inconvince.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Later that night, Axel walked through the castle.

He had said his goodbyes to Tsukiko, and held onto her lucky charm.

As he was walking, he passed Saix.

Saix simply gave him a cold stare.

"Axel" he said.

"I have a message from Lord Xemnas"

The red head stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder.

"We have reason to believe one or more of the members assigned to Castle Oblivion intend to betray us" Saix continued.

"Find them and dispose of them"

Axel just gripped Tsukiko's charm in his hand.

"And I take it that's straight from Lord Xemnas's lips, huh?" he asked.

With that, he simply walked off and left Saix where he was standing.

/

_Day 23_

The next day, Roxas and Ankoku ran straight into the main room.

They searched the whole area for Axel, hoping that he still might be here.

Roxas wanted to ask him about the winner stick, and Ankoku wanted to bug him about Tsukiko.

The only people who were in the room where Xion and Demyx at the moment.

Saix walked into the room and looked at the twins.

"Axel already left" he said.

Roxas's shoulders slumped while Ankoku looked annoyed.

"And he didn't even bother to say goodbye to us. How sweet"

Saix just ignored her.

Instead, he simply handed them the info they needed for their daily mission.

They didn't even notice Xion had walked up to them until the last minute.

Ankoku just gave her a slight wave, but Xion didn't respond.

"Xion will be with you both today" Saix informed them.

"Today will mark as the first mission you have with her. We need you to eliminate the specific heartless. You two are in charge"

Ankoku shrugged while Roxas nodded.

"Whatever you said" Ankoku said.

She was tempted to call him elf man, but she didn't want to face his wrath.

She had made that mistake when she called Larxene a nymph and was zapped dozens of times.

Roxas looked at Xion for a moment before stepping through the portal.

Ankoku just patted her on the back.

"Don't mind him" she said.

"He's not a morning person"

Xion didn't say anything and just walked into the portal.

Ankoku sweat dropped.

"Gee, who does that remind me of?"

She stepped into the portal and headed towards Twilight Town.

/

They stepped out into the sandlot and looked around.

"All right, let's go" Roxas said.

Xion didn't say anything while Ankoku shoved her hands in her pocket.

She tried to brush the hair that covered the right side of her face, but it would just fall back in place.

Roxas jus sighed.

"_So much for being in charge" _he thought.

He just looked at his sister.

"Well, Sis. Do you know where the heartless is?"

Ankoku closed her eyes and tired to predict where the heartless would be.

She opened her eyes when she spotted it.

"The caverns" she said.

Roxas nodded.

Ankoku looked at Xion.

"Just follow us" she said.

"We know the way"

Xion didn't say anything, but she nodded.

Roxas lead the way, while the two girls followed.

"_This is going to be interesting" _Ankoku thought.

/

Xion proved to be a very capable fighter.

Even though she didn't have a weapon, she was very good with magic.

Whenever they ran into a group of heartless, she would just blast them away.

They finally reached the caverns and spotted the heartless they were sent to destroy.

It was a large plant like one, and it seemed it liked to smash things with its head.

Ankoku gripped her keyblade tightly.

"You ready for this?" she asked Roxas.

He nodded as he held his keyblade.

Ankoku looked at Xion.

"If it becomes too much for you, just step back and leave it to us"

Xion didn't say or do anything is response.

Instead, she just went into the fray and started attacking.

While she cast fire spells at it, Roxas and Ankoku attacked with their keyblades.

Ankoku would cast a few fire spells every now and then.

By the time that they defeated the heartless, they were worn out.

"Well that was harder than I envisioned it to be" Ankoku said.

Roxas just groaned as he dismissed his weapon.

The group slowly made it back to the portal.

When they got there, Roxas and Ankoku looked at each other.

They were going to have ice cream like they normally did, but they figured Xion wouldn't want to tag along.

Ankoku looked at Xion.

"We've got someplace to be" she said.

"You go ahead and RTC without us"

Xion didn't say anything as she looked at them.

She quietly went through the portal and headed back towards the castle.

Roxas looked at Ankoku.

"Well, let's go" he said.

They bought their ice cream and headed up to the clock tower.

/

Roxas quietly ate his ice cream.

He would keep checking to see if anyone would come, but would hang his head when he didn't see anyone.

Ankoku rolled her eyes.

"He's not coming, Roxas" Ankoku said.

She figured he was hoping that Axel would show up.

Now that she thought about it, Tsukiko wasn't here either.

"_I guess since Axel isn't here, she wouldn't be here either"_

Roxas looked at his ice cream sadly.

"It's kind of lonely eating up here"

Ankoku whacked him on the back.

"What does that make me? Chopped liver?" she asked.

"I'm right here, so it's not like you're eating alone"

Roxas gave her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Sis" he said.

Ankoku just waved him off.

"Don't worry about it" she said.

"At least we have each other"

Roxas nodded.

"Yeah"

/

_Day 24_

The next morning, the two of them found Demyx and Xigbar talking to Xion, or rather, Xion just listening to them talk.

Demyx was such a chatter box.

"This place is like, a hundred times better minus all the bossy coworkers, am I right?"

Xion just looked at him through her hood.

"Bossy coworkers?" Roxas asked.

Demyx and Xigbar looked at the twins.

"Yeah, the 'dream team' that got shipped off to Castle Oblivion" Demyx said.

"Dreamy for me, because they're gone!"

Roxas looked away.

"Oh" he said.

Xigbar just chuckled.

"Too bad you, the diva and Poppet didn't get to spend more quality time with them" he said.

Ankoku glared at him.

Who was he calling a diva?

Roxas looked at him.

"Poppet? Who's that?"

"Xion of course" Xigbar said.

"Who else, kiddo?"

Roxas glared at him.

"My name's not 'kiddo'" he said.

"Yeah, and I'm not a diva" Ankoku added.

Xigbar shrugged.

"I don't know" he said.

"With that little attitude of yours, you act pretty much like a diva"

Ankoku glared at him.

"Well if I'm a diva, then you're going to be called patchy" she said referring to his eye patch.

Demyx snickered.

Before Xigbar could say anything, Saix came into the room.

As usual, he gave them a cold stare.

"You two, get to work" he said.

Ankoku glared at him.

"_I don't see you doing anything, elf man" _she thought.

Roxas just took the info they needed for their mission and pushed his sister along before she could say anything that would get them in trouble.

/

They had another mission with Xion in Twilight Town.

They had to get rid of a group of heartless that were gathered at the sandlot.

"Damn that Saix" Ankoku muttered.

"Always giving us missions but he doesn't do squat"

Roxas just sighed and pushed her towards the sandlot.

"Let's just get this over with and be done with it" he said.

"The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can have ice cream"

Ankoku's face lit up at the thought of having ice cream.

She looked over her shoulder to see Xion.

"Come on, Xion" she said.

She slowly followed them towards the sandlot.

/

When they saw the amount of heartless that covered the area, Ankoku looked at Roxas.

"The one who destroys the least amount of heartless has to buy the winner an ice cream" she said.

Roxas pulled out his keyblade.

"You're on"

Ankoku pulled out her keyblade and looked at Xion.

"Good luck, Xion" she said.

They all jumped into the fray and attacked every heartless that they could get their hands on.

Roxas and Ankoku did fairly well with their end of the fighting.

They were evenly matched in every way.

Xion seemed to do find on her own, but a heartless caught her from behind.

Ankoku saw this and slashed at the heartless.

"Watch out" she said.

She went back to attacking her portion of heartless until there were none left.

In the end, Roxas and Ankoku were tied up.

"Looks like we'll have to buy each other's ice cream" Ankoku said.

Roxas shrugged.

"Sounds fair enough"

They headed back towards the portal to drop Xion off.

"We've got someplace to be again today, so go on ahead without us" Roxas said.

He and Ankoku were starting to walk off, when Xion spoke out.

"R..Roxas…An…Ankoku"

They both stopped and looked at her.

Ankoku looked amazed.

"What did you say?" she asked.

Xion looked at them.

"Your names…their …Roxas and Ankoku, right?" she asked.

Ankoku nodded.

"Yeah, Xion. That's right"

With that, Xion went through the portal.

/

Up on the clock tower, Ankoku thought about when Xemnas gave her, her name.

How hers was different from everyone else.

Ankoku watched the birds as they flew through the sky.

She silently munched on her ice cream.

Roxas looked at his sister after a while.

"Our names" he said.

Ankoku looked at him strangely.

"What about them?"

Roxas looked out at the sky.

"I think that was the first thing Xion has said"

Ankoku looked at the sky as well.

"I guess you're right" she said.

/

_Day 25_

The next day, Xion was waiting for them.

"Morning Xion" Roxas said.

Xion looked at them.

She didn't say anything to them for a bit.

"_I guess it was too much for her yesterday" _Ankoku thought.

"Is something the matter?" Roxas asked.

Xion shook her head.

"Good…morning, Roxas…Ankoku"

Ankoku smiled.

"So you really are talking" she said.

Saix walked up to them.

"Finish your preparations ASAP" he said.

"A giant heartless has surfaced. It must be exterminated"

Ankoku waved him off.

"Yeah, yeah. We've got it" she said.

Saix just glared at her and walked away.

Roxas sighed at his sister.

"You're going to get us in trouble one of these days" he said.

/

The three of them arrived in the allies of Twilight Town.

Xion looked at her two partners.

"Roxas…Ankoku"

The twins looked at her.

Xion pulled her hood back to reveal a young girl with short black hair and bright blue eyes.

"Good luck today" she said.

Roxas looked taken aback.

"T-thanks" he said.

Ankoku smiled.

"You too, Xion" she said.

Roxas looked at her.

"Ok, Sis" he said.

"Can you see where the heartless is going to be?"

Ankoku looked annoyed.

For the last few days, he had been depending on her to see into the future and find out where their target was.

It annoyed her, but she figured that she had to put her powers into good use.

Besides, she didn't need them today.

"I don't need to use my powers to find our target" she said.

"It's pretty obvious where it is?"

Roxas an eyebrow.

"Oh really? Where is it?"

Ankoku placed her hands on her hips.

"If we're facing a huge enemy, then it'll be at the biggest area around here: the clock tower"

/

They all hurried towards the clock tower.

If this heartless was as bad as Saix said, then they had to get rid of it fast.

Ankoku scanned the whole area.

"Come out, come out where ever you are" she said.

Roxas sighed.

"It's not a dog, Sis"

Ankoku just gave him a look.

Xion was about to say something, but the ground started the rumble.

"What the?"

A heartless emerged from the ground.

It towered over them, making them seem like ants.

Roxas and Ankoku pulled out their weapons.

"What is THAT?" Roxas asked.

Xion got into a defensive position.

"Our target!" she said.

Ankoku studied their opponent.

From the looks of it, it didn't appear to be that strong.

It was big, but that was the only problem they had.

"You guys ready for this?" she asked.

They both nodded.

"Then let's go kick some heartless ass!"

They all charged at the heartless.

Like Ankoku predicted, the Darkside heartless was slow.

Roxas and Ankoku got one arm while Xion got the other.

Things seemed to look good for the group.

When the Darkside fell on one knee, the group thought they got it.

Ankoku pumped her fist.

"We did it!" she cried.

She spoke too soon.

When she and Roxas were caught up in their supposed victory, the Darkside swatted its big hand at them and knocked their keyblades out of their hands.

The keys scattered across the ground and landed in front of Xion.

The keys disappeared and reappeared in her hands.

Xion looked at them for a second before charging at the Darkside and finishing it off.

When she was done she looked at Roxas and Ankoku.

The twins looked shocked.

They didn't realize Xion could use a keyblade, or even two for that matter.

"Whoa, Xion!" Roxas cried.

"We didn't know you could use a keyblade!"

"Or two for that matter" Ankoku added.

Xion looked at her hand sheepishly.

"Yeah…neither did I" she said.

Ankoku smiled.

"You did great"

Xion smiled softly at that.

"Hey you guys!"

Everyone turned around to see Tsukiko coming towards them with a bag in hand.

She waved at them as she got closer.

Ankoku smiled when she saw her.

"Hey, Tsukiko. Long time no see"

Tsukiko just laughed as she approached them.

"Sorry about that" she said.

"I've been busy the last few days"

She looked at Xion.

"Oh? And who is this?"

"This is Xion" Roxas said.

"She's No. XVI in the Organization"

"And she can use two keyblades!" Ankoku said.

"We were fighting this heartless, and she suddenly got these keyblades. She clobbered that heartless"

Tsukiko grinned at Xion.

"Is that right?" she said.

Xion blushed a little, but nodded.

Tsukiko grinned at her.

"Well, this calls for a celebration"

She held up the bag she was holding.

"In fact, you guys deserve a little something extra"

Ankoku's eyes lit up when she noticed what it was in the bag.

"_Sea-Salt Ice Cream!"_

Xion tilted her head.

"Something extra?" she asked.

Tsukiko nodded.

"Yep. The 'Icing on the cake', or at least that's what Axel calls it"

She motioned towards the clock tower.

"Come on, I'll show you"

/

The four of them sat up at their usual spot on the clock tower.

Ankoku was practically drooling when Tsukiko handed her, her ice cream.

Roxas took his and handed Xion hers.

"Here you go" he said.

Xion looked at her frozen treat for a moment.

She didn't know what to do with it.

Tsukiko nudged her slightly.

"Go ahead, try it" she said.

Xion looked at her ice cream, then took a bite out of it.

"It's sweet" she said.

"But kind of salty too"

Tsukiko giggled.

"It's really good, right?" she asked.

"We always have it with Axel all the time" Roxas said.

Tsukiko sighed as she heard Axel's name.

"This is his favorite" she said quietly.

She nibbled on her ice cream.

"It's going to be quiet without him here"

Ankoku looked at her.

She noticed that her moon necklace was gone.

"Hey, what happened to your necklace?"

Tsukiko touched her neck.

"I gave it to Axel" she said.

"He told me that he was going away for a few days, so I gave him my good luck charm"

She smiled sweetly.

"He can get into trouble at times, so I wanted to give him something that would keep him safe"

Ankoku just nibbled on her ice cream stick as she looked at her.

"Sounds like you're really close to him" she said.

Tsukiko blushed a little.

"Well…you could say that" she said.

She looked at the sky.

"After all, we're lovers" she mumbled.

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

Lovers? What was that?

She decided to ask her later when no one else was around.

Roxas sighed as he thought about his friend.

"We always had ice cream together" he said.

"He said that's what friends do"

Xion looked at him.

"Do you think I could be a friend too?" she asked.

Ankoku smirked at her and patted her on the back.

"Of course you can" she said.

"Besides, with you around, I won't be the only girl in the group"

Xion smiled at her.

"Thanks" she said.

Tsukiko watched as the three Nobodies talked with each other.

The four of them talked and laughed for the rest of the day.

Each of them enjoyed each other's company.

/

That night, Ankoku was too tired to write in her diary.

"I'll just write in it tomorrow" she said.

She got in her bed and turned off the lights.

That night, she had a strange dream.

She wouldn't really call it a dream, since she kept seeing the same image over and over again.

For the rest of her night, she kept seeing a pure white keyblade and the image of a young girl holding it.

/

**A/N: Looks like Ankoku is starting to remember Hikari. I wonder how that's going to end. **

**So Xion finally showed her face to Roxas and Ankoku, that must be good.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	9. Terminated

Chapter 9: Terminated

**A/N: Uh oh, one of the Organization members has been killed off? Who could it be?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

The next day, Ankoku woke up feeling refreshed from the day before.

She stretched all of the kinks from her body before sitting up straight.

She looked around to see that Roxas had already left.

"Must have gotten up early" she said to herself.

She got up from her bed and fixed her jacket.

She thought about what her mission might be today and who she would be partnered up with.

"I wonder what today's mission is" she said.

She walked towards the door.

"I hope it's with Xion"

She walked down the hallway and went to get the information on her next mission.

/

When she got into the main room, she saw Roxas standing with Demyx and Xaldin.

The two of them seemed to be talking about something.

"Then what the blazes did happen?" Xaldin snapped.

Demyx looked a little uneasy as he talked to him.

"Don't look at me, man" he said.

"I just found out minutes ago"

Ankoku made a face at the sight of Xaldin's hair.

A man his age should not be wearing dreadlocks and have them piled up on his head.

It made Demyx's hair look normal.

She went over to Roxas.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Roxas just shrugged.

Ankoku just rolled her eyes.

She spotted Xigbar and went up to him.

Perhaps he would know what was going on.

"Is everything alright?" she asked.

Xigbar looked at her.

"Alright?" he asked.

"As if. Word has it at least one of the folks we sent to Castle Oblivion has been terminated"

Roxas gulped slightly.

"Terminated?" he repeated.

"But that means…"

Ankoku paled slightly.

She remembered having a vision of Tsukiko crying because Axel was gone.

Did that mean Axel was the one who was terminated?

She hoped not.

She couldn't even imagine the look on Roxas's face if he heard that.

Saix walked up to the three of them.

"You two, your mission" he said as he handed them the info.

"Go with Xigbar to Agrabah"

Ankoku made a face at him.

He really knew how to kill the mood around everyone.

Roxas just got in his face.

He was concerned about what was happening at Castle Oblivion as well.

"Is it true about Castle Oblivion?" he asked.

Saix just gave him a cold stare.

"That's no concern of yours" he said.

"But what about Axel?" Roxas retorted.

"Who knows" Saix said.

"Perhaps he's among the lost"

Roxas looked at the ground.

"But…"

Ankoku glared at Saix.

How dare he talk that way to her brother?

If he wasn't second in command of the Organization, she would seriously hit him with her keyblade.

"No buts" Xigbar said.

"There's work to be done. Get yourselves ready"

Ankoku glared at him and followed him towards the portal.

She just knew that this was going to be a sucky mission.

/

And sucky she was right.

Once they stepped foot in Agrabah, she was sweating her brains off.

The whole area seemed to be like a desert type world.

Sand could be seen from miles away and piled up next to buildings.

Ankoku wiped her forehead.

"_Wearing black leather in humid places is not a good combination" _she thought.

Xigbar fanned himself.

"Ugh, I'm already frying out here" he said.

"C'mon you two. Let's get this investigation over and done with"

"_I second that" _Ankoku thought.

She looked at Roxas to see that his head was still down.

Xigbar noticed this too.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Dazzled by the new scenery?"

Ankoku rolled her eyes at that.

"There's nothing dazzling about this place" she said.

Roxas looked up at Xigbar.

"Do you think it's true-about the members stationed at Castle Oblivion?"

Xigbar just laughed.

"Is that seriously what's eating you?" he asked.

Ankoku placed her hands on her hips.

"We might have lost a comrade" she said.

Although, she wouldn't consider half of the members at Castle Oblivion to be comrades.

They were more like enemies.

Roxas nodded in agreement.

"Maybe multiple comrades" he added.

"That doesn't bother you?"

Xigbar just scoffed.

"As if" he said.

Roxas hung his head sadly.

Xigbar just rolled his eyes.

"Look, the faster we get this mission done, the sooner we can RTC and get your answers" he said.

Roxas nodded.

"Fine" he said.

Ankoku just placed her hands behind her head.

"I don't think there's even a point to investigate this place" she said.

"There's nothing much to this place except that it's hot, there's a lot of sand and it's practically a ghost town"

Xigbar snorted.

"If you want to head home early and confront Saix, then be my guest" he said.

Ankoku just scowled at him.

There was no way she was going to confront that elf man by herself.

Looks like she was stuck here until they searched the entire place.

"Why don't I give you another eye patch so you have a matching set?" she asked.

Xigbar just chuckled as he walked away.

"Trust me, a diva like you would never be able to get a hit on me"

Ankoku just grumbled as she dragged Roxas with her through the town.

This was going to be a very long and boring mission.

/

After half an hour, they searched every nook and cranny that they could of the desert kingdom.

"This place is swimming with sand" Xigbar commented.

Ankoku rolled her eyes.

"Really? I didn't know that" she said sarcastically.

Xigbar just gave her a look.

"You've got quite a mouth on you today" he said.

Ankoku placed her hands on her hips.

"Tell me something that I don't know" she said.

Roxas was lost in thought the whole time his sister was arguing.

He kept thinking about the members that were at Castle Oblivion.

Which person was terminated there?

Was it Axel? Or was it one of the others?

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Ankoku whacked upside the head with her keyblade.

He rubbed his head and looked at the others.

Xigbar crossed his arms.

"You still with us here?" he asked.

"I've seen you space out before, but this is ridiculous"

Roxas just looked away.

"I'm fine" he said.

Ankoku just sighed at him.

She knew that he was worried about what was going on at Castle Oblivion.

Heck, so was she.

If it was Axel was the one who was terminated, how was she going to break it to Tsukiko?

From what she had seen and heard, they seemed really close to each other.

Not to mention the fact that Tsukiko mentioned that they were lovers.

Xigbar seemed to guess what was on Roxas's mind as well.

"Let me guess" he said.

"Castle Oblivion?"

When Roxas didn't say anything, it just gave them their answer.

Xigbar just sighed.

"I told you before. The sooner we finish here, the sooner we can go back to the castle to find your answers"

Ankoku looked at him.

"You mean we're not done?" she asked.

Xigbar chuckled at him.

"As if" he said.

"We may have searched the entire place once, but we might have forgotten a few things. You always double check"

Ankoku just groaned in frustration and kicked at the sand.

"Aww, is someone having a temper tantrum?" Xigbar taunted.

Ankoku sent him her most deadliest glare.

She was sick and tired of this mission and she wanted to go home.

"Let's just get this stupid mission done and over with" she said.

She started to walk off.

"This place it burning me up"

Xigbar just laughed as he followed her.

He found it amusing when she got ticked off.

Roxas didn't say anything as he followed his sister.

He knew that it was never a good idea to talk to her when she was in a mood like this.

/

Ankoku searched the entire place all over again, much to her annoyance.

She wanted to get out of this dry world and eat ice cream with Tsukiko.

She wanted to ask her about her connection with Axel and what it meant to be lovers.

She had never heard the word before, but it almost felt familiar to her.

It was as if she had heard it once a long time ago.

She shook her head.

That was impossible.

She had been around for only 26 days.

There was just no way that she was 'alive' longer than that.

As she was walking, an image flashed through her head.

It was the image of a boy with silver hair that reached his shoulders and had the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen.

He appeared to be smiling at someone, but the rest was all a blur.

She grabbed her forehead when the image died.

This wasn't like the other times when she had visions.

While those images were of the future, this one was…different.

It was like she had already seen that before.

Roxas looked at his sister.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Xigbar walked up behind them.

"Did the sun finally fry your brain?"

Ankoku gave him a weak glare.

"I'm fine" she snapped.

She stood up straight and walked ahead.

"Let's just get this mission over with so we can get out of here"

Xigbar gave her a mock bow before following her.

"Yes, Ma'am" he said.

Roxas quietly followed after them as they investigated this world.

/

As they investigated the world some more, they ran into a couple of heartless.

They all expected this.

If there was a world filled with people, then there were also heartless.

Ankoku slashed through them with her keyblade while Roxas got the ones that she missed.

Xigbar fired off his arrow guns at the ones that were too far away or were hard to reach.

Ankoku had to admit, he was useful for these kinds of things.

Other than that, he was a pain.

When they figured that they weren't going to find anything else out, they decided to RTC.

As they made it to the portal, a heartless appeared behind Roxas and Ankoku.

They were so focused on heading back home, that they failed to notice it.

Xigbar, on the other hand saw it and fired off his arrow gun.

When the twins saw the heartless disappear, they looked at Xigbar.

It never occurred to them until now that they didn't know what happened to a heartless when it was destroyed.

Roxas looked at Xigbar intently.

Perhaps he would know what happened to them.

"Hey, where do heartless go when they disappear?" he asked.

Xigbar just looked at him as if he was stupid.

"They don't go anywhere" he said.

"They're gone. Only the hearts that they captured return. But the hearts go somewhere: Kingdom Hearts"

Roxas gulped slightly.

"So what if a person without a heart is destroyed- a Nobody like you or me? Does some part of us return?"

Xigbar snorted.

"As if" he said.

"We're not even suppose to 'be' in the first place. What's there to leave behind?"

Ankoku felt her mouth dry up.

So if the person that got terminated at Castle Oblivion disappeared completely, then they were to never be seen again.

Roxas seemed to realize this as well.

"Then whoever it was at Castle Oblivion-" he said.

Xigbar nodded.

"Gone" he finished.

"And I'll never see them again?" Roxas asked.

Xigbar shook his head.

"Nope" he said.

Ankoku swallowed the lump that was in her throat.

Now that she heard all of that, she couldn't help but think about that one vision she had of Tsukiko.

Could it be that this was what her vision meant?

She could see Roxas looked upset.

Xigbar just walked through the portal, not caring that the twins were suffering by his words.

Ankoku looked at Roxas and patted him on the shoulder.

"Hey, maybe it's not Axel" she said.

"We can ask who it was that got terminated"

Roxas looked at her hopefully.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea" he said.

They started walking towards the portal when suddenly Roxas stopped.

He swayed slightly and grabbed his head.

"Huh?...what's going…on?"

Ankoku saw him and panicked a little.

"Roxas?"

Just then, the blond fell to the floor and was out cold.

"Roxas!"

She went to check to see if he was ok, but she found herself in a similar situation.

Her head started spinning and she lost her balance.

"What's…happening?"

Images of the silver haired boy flashed through her head.

When they died down, she fell to the ground and black out completely.

The last thing she thought of before she blacked out was her closest friends.

"_Roxas…Tsukiko…Axel…Xion"_

Just then, the image of a blond girl drawing something flashed through her mind.

That threw her off.

She didn't know any girl with light blond hair.

"_Who are you?"_

That would be an answer she would never get until much later on down the road.

/

**A/N: So the memory process has effect our keyblade masters. Not only that, but Ankoku is starting to remember Riku. How will she react to all of these memories?**

**You'll just have to review and find out.**

**Ja ne**


	10. The Sound of the Tides

Chapter 10: The Sound of the Tides

**A/N: Hey everyone! This is where the story starts to lean away from the game line. It won't be that extreme, but just a little for Ankoku's story line to fit in. Hope you don't mind.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

_Ankoku found herself walking along a dark beach._

_She never recalled being here before, but she knew the name._

_The Dark Meridian._

_As she walked across the beach, she saw someone wearing the Organization cloak sitting on a rock._

_She could tell it was a man based on its body structure._

_The man seemed to know she was standing in front of him since he spoke out._

"_You have arrived" he said._

_He looked at her._

_His hood was up, so she couldn't see his face._

"_I've been to see her" he said._

"_She looks a lot like you"_

_Ankoku looked puzzled._

_It was as if she knew who this man was, yet she didn't at the same time._

"_Who are you?" she asked._

_The man simply looked back towards the dark see._

"_I'm what's left" he said._

"_Or…maybe I'm all there ever was"_

_Ankoku glared at him._

_That wasn't what she meant._

"_I meant your name" she said._

"_My name is of no importance" the man said._

_He looked at her._

"_What about you?" he asked._

"_Do you remember your true name?"_

_Ankoku looked at the ground for a moment._

"_My true name is…"_

_Now that she thought about it, what was her true name?_

_She felt that 'Ankoku' wasn't her real name, but she just couldn't think of anything._

_The man seemed to notice this._

"_You've been with us for six days now" he said._

_He stood up from the rock and removed his hood to reveal himself to be Xemnas._

"_The time has come"_

_He walked past her and patted her on the shoulder._

_As he did, he said something to her, but she couldn't hear what it was._

_She simply watched him as he walked across the beach and left her._

/

Ankoku was out cold on her bed.

Those images that she saw really messed with her head.

Xemnas and Saix stood next to her bed and watched her as she slept.

Xemnas was mildly surprised.

He never expected both of his keyblade masters to pass out during a mission.

He knew the reason behind all of this.

Saix seemed to know it as well.

"Namine must have begun her work…" he said.

Xemnas looked at his second in command.

"Will she wake from this?" he asked.

Saix nodded.

"I am told she will-provided that Namine strips the princess of all her memories" he said.

Xemnas pondered over this information.

Not only was Ankoku affected by this, but so was Roxas.

"Then much hinges on Castle Oblivion" he said.

"We needn't stop collecting hearts" Saix explained.

"Number XVI has gained power over the keyblades, just as we intended. Xion can fill their shoes for the time being"

Xemnas grinned darkly at that.

So not all was lost.

He looked at Saix.

"And the chamber?" he asked.

"Have you found it?"

Saix shook his head.

"No, sir" he said.

"I would say progress is slow…if we actually made any"

When Xemnas didn't say anything, Saix left.

Xemnas just watched as Ankoku slept.

"So, sleep has taken you yet again…" he said.

As he looked closely at her facial features, he couldn't help but notice how similar she looked to someone he knew.

"How ironic it is that you look exactly like her"

With that, he left her room so she could sleep.

/

Nearly two weeks went by since Roxas and Ankoku went to sleep.

And in that time, nothing really changed.

They still slept in their hibernated sleep while Xion collected hearts for them.

And after every mission, she would come to their rooms and see how they were doing.

Xion was in Ankoku's room while she slept.

She had hoped that she would be up by now, but it seemed that nothing changed.

She smiled sadly at her.

"I went to a new world today" she said.

"Ankoku, you should have seen it. It was so beautiful"

She placed something beside her pillow.

"Well, I'll visit you tomorrow, okay?" she said.

"Bye, Ankoku…"

She left the room and let Ankoku sleep.

What the keyblade didn't realize was that Xion had left a sea shells on her bed.

There was one for every day that she had been asleep.

/

As Ankoku slept, she saw a girl stepping into some type of white pod.

The girl turned around and revealed to have a face similar to hers.

They had the same facial structures, the same green eyes, and the same skin tone.

The only difference was that she had shoulder length brown hair that was pulled out of her face slightly with a red ribbon.

As the pod closed on the girl, Ankoku couldn't help but feel like she knew that girl.

/

_Day 50_

"_I knew that I'd find you snoozing down here"_

Ankoku's eyes fluttered opened as she heard someone's voice in her head.

It was some boy talking to her, but it sounded really familiar.

She opened her eyes fully and noticed that she was in her room.

She slowly sat up and looked around.

She spotted the sea shells on her pillow.

"Where did these come from?"

She picked one up and examined it.

As she looked at it, she envisioned a beach that had tropical trees bearing star shaped fruits hanging from it.

She placed the sea shell in her pocket and got out of bed.

"I wonder how long I've been asleep?" she said.

She went out to the main lobby to find the place to be empty.

No one was lounging around, waiting for their missions.

Not even Saix was here.

She rubbed her head in confusion.

This was odd.

"Sis?"

Ankoku turned around to see Roxas coming up to her.

She smiled as she saw her twin.

"Hey, Roxas" she said.

"Do you know what's going on?"

Roxas shook his head.

"No. I just got up" he said.

"Have you been asleep too?"

Ankoku nodded.

She looked around the lobby for a bit before grabbing Roxas's hand.

"Come on" she said.

"Since no one is here, then there's no point staying here"

They walked off and headed to the one place that they could relax.

/

The twins sat in their usual spot at the clock tower.

The sunset gave off a warm glow over the town.

The two of them didn't really say much.

They simply enjoyed the silence.

"R-Roxas? Ankoku!"

They turned to see Xion and Tsukiko standing by them.

Ankoku waved at them.

"Hey, guys" she said.

The two females walked over to them.

Roxas looked at Xion.

"Xion…what happened to us?" he asked.

Xion sat next to him while Tsukiko sat next to Ankoku.

"You were sleeping" Xion said.

"A long, long time"

Tsukiko nodded.

"Yeah, Xion kept coming here by herself after missions" she said.

"I had to keep her company because I just thought it was wrong to leave her by herself"

"Saix told us not to get our hopes up" Xion said.

"That you both might not-"

She looked at the sky.

"Well, you're both awake now. That's what counts"

Ankoku smiled at her.

"I guess you're right" she said.

Roxas rubbed his neck nervously.

"Ugh. I feel like a zombie" he said.

"Guess there's some things a nap can't cure"

The group laughed at his little joke.

Xion pulled out a set of sea shells and handed them to Roxas and Ankoku.

"Here, I brought you this"

They each took a shell and examined it.

"It's a sea shell" Xion explained.

"I've been picking one up every time I go out on a mission. Hold it up to your ear"

Ankoku examined hers.

Her shell was a nice shade of blue that was darker at the top and lighter at the bottom.

She placed to her ear and heard the sound of waves.

She almost felt as if she were by that ocean she had envisioned before.

As she was listening to the waves, she saw the image of a girl who looked exactly like Xion.

The only difference between them was that this girl had red hair and brighter blue eyes.

When she opened her eyes, she smiled at Xion.

"That's pretty cool" she said.

Roxas nodded in agreement.

Xion smiled at them.

"Thanks" she said.

They talked for the rest of the day until it was time to head back to the castle.

Before they did, Ankoku told Roxas and Xion to go on without her.

"I have some things that I want to take care of here" she said.

They both nodded and went through the portal.

Ankoku looked at Tsukiko, who was minding her own business.

She gulped slightly as she watched the older woman.

She just had to let her know what happened at Castle Oblivion.

Even though it might not have been Axel who got terminated, she still needed to know just in case.

She slowly approached Tsukiko and cleared her throat.

Tsukiko looked at Ankoku and smiled.

"Hey, Ankoku" she said.

"What are you still doing here?"

Ankoku dug her hands into her gloves.

She really didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, but she doubt that Roxas would tell her.

She let out a shaky breath before looking at her friend.

"Hey, Tsukiko" she said.

"Did Xion ever tell you what was going on at Castle Oblivion?"

Tsukiko shook her head.

"No, why?" she asked.

Ankoku bit the inside of her cheeks.

"Well…I guess word has it that….someone, although they don't know who...has been…terminated"

Tsukiko's smile fell and was replaced with worry.

"What?" she said.

Ankoku let the hair cover her eyes.

She really didn't want to see her friend like this.

"I said, one of the people who were sent to Castle Oblivion was terminated, although we don't know who"

Tsukiko touched the area where her necklace one stood.

The necklace that she gave to Axel.

"D-do you think it's Axel?" she said in a shaky voice.

Ankoku shrugged.

"I don't know" Ankoku said.

"Saix won't tell us who it was exactly, but he said it was likely"

Bad words to say.

Tears weld up in Tsukiko's eyes.

She held herself tightly as she shook her head.

"No" she said quietly.

"No…there's just no way…there's just no way that he would…"

She fell to her knees and held her face.

Her shoulders shook as she cried loudly.

"NO!" She cried.

Ankoku watched as Tsukiko simply broke down.

She had never seen her act this way and she was starting to freak out.

Why would she act this way?

She only said that it was likely that Axel was the one that was terminated, but she never said that was certain.

She just watched as the vision that she saw weeks before unraveled.

Tsukiko's whole body shook and trembled.

"Why?" she choked.

"Why did he have to die?"

Tears simply ran down her face like little waterfalls.

"AXEL!"

Ankoku slowly walked over to her and knelt in front of her.

She knew there was nothing she could do, but she had to calm her friend down.

She hugged Tsukiko as she continued to cry.

She rubbed her back while Tsukiko cried on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Tsukiko" she said quietly.

As they sat on the deserted streets of Twilight Town, Ankoku hoped that it wasn't Axel that was terminated and this vision never came true.

/

**A/N: Poor Tsukiko. She probably just lost the love of her life! Hopefully it wasn't him that was terminated (although I'm sure you already know that)**

**Please review and tell me what you think, I'm desperate for them lately!**

**If I don't get reviews, I won't be able to continue on to the next story of the series!**

**And I'm sure you all want to see Riku and Taiyouko.**

**Please help me out, please!**

**Ja ne**


	11. Reunion

Chapter 11: Reunion

**A/N: Looks like Tsukiko suffered major heartbreak. I wonder what Ankoku can do cheer her friend up? Maybe Axel isn't really 'dead' after all. We'll just have to see.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Ankoku sat in her room that night.

After trying to calm Tsukiko down, she confronted Saix and demanded what happened at Castle Oblivion.

The answer she got was not the one she was hoping for.

/

_Flash back_

_Ankoku stormed up to Saix when she got back from Twilight Town._

_Seeing Tsukiko cry like that over the thought that Axel might be terminated really affected her._

_She simply had to know the truth._

_For her friend's sake at least._

_Saix gave her an emotionless stare as she came up to him._

"_You're awake" he said._

_Ankoku just glared at him._

"_Alright, listen" she said._

"_I know that you know what's happening at Castle Oblivion. Just tell me what's going on so I don't have to keep pestering you"_

_Saix gave her an icy glare._

"_You better watch your mouth" he warned._

_Ankoku just glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest._

_When he realized that she wasn't going anywhere, he decided to give her the edited version of the news._

"_We're looking into what befell them" he said._

_Ankoku raised an eyebrow._

'_Them'?_

"_Them?" she asked._

_So more than one person was terminated?_

"_How many?" she asked._

"_You still don't know?"_

_Saix just glared at her._

"_What I know is that I don't owe you any explanation" he said._

"_Now get to work"_

_Ankoku just gave him a nasty glare before storming to her room._

_This was not good news._

/

Ankoku sighed as she leaned her head against the wall.

There was no way that she could tell Tsukiko about this.

If she started crying hysterically hearing about one person being terminated, then she didn't even want to see her reaction at hearing that more than one was K.O'd.

Roxas wasn't reacting well to the news either.

He had been quiet the whole day.

It really bothered Ankoku.

He was finally starting to open up more and become talkative.

But when Saix told him about what happened at Castle Oblivion, he went back to his quiet state.

Ankoku let out a deep breath.

How could everyone that went to Castle Oblivion become terminated?

Sure, she could see Vexen keeling over, but she never thought Axel would bite the dust too.

He had to be one of the strongest members of the Organization.

"_I guess even the strong have their weak points" _she thought.

She ran a hand through her messy black hair.

There was no point beating herself over this.

There was nothing she could do.

Axel was gone, and she had to face that.

She just wished that the ones who were closest to her weren't affected by this as well.

/

The next day, Ankoku was given a mission in Twilight Town.

Since they were short on staff, Saix told everyone that they would be working on Solo missions.

Ankoku didn't really mind.

She needed the time to think over everything that had happened.

She also figured that Roxas would want his space.

He may not have said much, but he kept his thoughts locked deep inside him.

When it would become too much for him, he would pop.

She sighed as she walked down the deserted streets.

She pulled out the paper that told her what her mission was today.

"Let's see" she said.

"I need to get rid of a group of heartless. That's new and exciting-not"

She placed the paper back in her cloak.

"Can't Saix think up of anything else besides destroying heartless and recon missions?" she asked herself.

"He could at least pitch in and destroy these little pests instead of sitting on his lazy ass and giving out orders"

She summoned up her keyblade and used her powers to predict where the heartless were going to be at.

"This is going to be so boring" she said in a bored tone.

She suddenly realized that she was starting to talk like Larxene.

She shuddered as she pictured herself acting like that savage nymph.

"At least she was one of the ones who were terminated" she said.

She went down to the sandlot so she could hurry up with her mission.

/

"Another job well done"

Since Ankoku predicted where the heartless were going to be at, she finished her mission in only fifteen minutes.

She looked up at the evening sky.

"I guess I still have some time to kill" she said.

"It's not like I'm in a hurry to head back home anyway"

She decided to treat herself to some Sea Salt ice cream.

"_After everything that I've been through lately, I need this" _she thought.

She headed towards the market area to buy herself an ice cream when she saw Tsukiko.

The young woman seemed so lost in her own world that she didn't seem to know what was going on.

Ankoku bit her lip.

She knew that she must have been suffering from the bad news, but she just couldn't see her like this.

She walked over to her.

"Hey, Tsukiko!"

Tsukiko looked at her and gave her a weak smile.

"Hey, Ankoku" she said.

Ankoku shoved her hands into the pockets of her cloak.

"So…how have you been?" she asked.

Tsukiko sighed and looked off to the side.

"I've been better" she admitted.

"I don't want to believe that Axel was probably terminated. But there is that possibility that it's true"

A tear ran down her face as she thought of that.

Ankoku looked at her sadly.

She didn't want to see her friend so broken.

She was used to seeing her smile, not frowning.

She gently grabbed her arm and pulled her along.

"Come on" she said.

"You deserve an ice cream"

Tsukiko didn't say anything as she was being dragged around.

She really didn't care at the moment.

Ankoku bought them their ice creams and took them to their usual spot.

/

Ankoku mindlessly munched on her frozen treat.

Normally, she would have enjoyed the sweet taste in provided, but today, it tasted more salty than it did sweet.

She looked at Tsukiko who didn't even bother to eat hers.

The ice cream simply melted and dripped on her hands.

Ankoku just sighed as she looked at her.

"Are you sure you're ok?" she asked.

She knew that she wasn't, but she needed her to talk.

She knew it wasn't good to have thoughts being bottled up inside.

Tsukiko just looked at the ice cream that melted on her hand.

"I just…can't believe that he might actually be gone" she said.

She looked towards the sunset.

"For as long as I've known him, Axel has always been strong. He's too stubborn to give up"

She smiled weakly.

"That's probably one of things that I loved about him"

Ankoku had her ice cream stick hanging from her mouth as she looked at her.

She had heard Tsukiko once say that she and Axel were lovers, but she didn't know how that was possible.

She knew that love was a feeling, but since Axel was a Nobody, there was just no way that he could experience something like that.

"Um…can I ask you something?" she asked.

Tsukiko nodded.

"You know all about us Nobodies, right?" Ankoku asked.

"Yeah" Tsukiko replied.

"And you know that we don't have heart"

Tsukiko nodded.

Ankoku bit her lip.

"Well…I don't want to sound rude, but…if you know that we can't feel…then how are and Axel lovers?"

Tsukiko gave her a small smile.

"I guess you wouldn't know, since Axel doesn't say anything" she said.

"I know that he can't feel anything, and I understand clearly that he doesn't have a heart. But whenever we're together, it just seems right"

She looked out towards the sky.

"He said that whenever he's near me, he feels like he's a normal person, that I complete him. He might not feel anything, but I feel everything for him"

She gave Ankoku a weak smile.

"I guess you could say that I act like his heart. I feel things that he'll never be able to feel"

She placed a hand over her chest.

"Although, I find some of the things I feel to be a little strange" she admitted.

"It's when I feel something that I'm not used to; I don't know how I'm supposed to react. I've always been like that since I could remember"

She gave Ankoku an apologetic smile.

"I guess this must be a little confusing for you" she said.

Ankoku shook her head.

"No, I understand it a little" she said.

Tsukiko smiled slightly.

"You know, you're real easy to talk to" she said.

Ankoku shrugged.

"I can be when I want to" she said.

Tsukiko giggled a little.

For the remainder of the day, the two of them talked about random things.

Tsukiko would talk about all the times she spent with Axel while Ankoku would talk about everyone in the Organization and how Saix was a pain in the ass.

Later that night, Ankoku had a strange dream.

It featured that boy with the silver hair and the girl how looked a lot like her.

/

_The two of them stood in front of this great white door._

_The boy was on one side while the girl was on the other._

_She had tears running down her face as she looked at the boy._

_She reached her hand out towards him._

"_Riku! Hurry up on this side!" she cried._

_The boy sadly looked at him and shook his head._

"_The door needs to be closed on both sides. I have to stay" he said._

_The girl looked upset at that._

"_No!" she cried._

_Voices could be heard around them, but they were muffled out._

_The girl looked at her heart shaped necklace and pulled it off._

_She kissed it and handed it to Riku._

"_Riku!"_

_She pressed the charm in his hand._

"_It's like I said before; my heart belongs to you, it always has"_

_Riku looked at the charm before smiling softy at her._

The rest was a blur after that.

The only thing she got out of that dream was that the boy was named Riku and apparently he had a deep connection to this girl.

/

For the next few days, Ankoku would hang out with Tsukiko after her missions.

It was nice to be able to hang out with another female.

Xion was always busy with her missions, so she wouldn't be able to hang out after words.

Roxas would always be lost in his own little world.

He was still affected by the news that everyone in Castle Oblivion was gone.

Demyx and Xigbar didn't make him feel any better either.

They would just rub it in his face that everyone was gone and would enjoy seeing his reaction.

She would always have to intervene before Roxas would snap at them.

It was tiring, but she figured that was the job description of being an older sister.

She really enjoyed the times she spent with Tsukiko.

She learned things about her that she didn't know before.

Like she lost her memories nearly ten years ago. She said that one day; she just woke up and realized that she was in Twilight Town. She couldn't remember anything from before then.

And that her eyes were actually green, but she wore purple contact lens because she thought they looked cool.

"_I always try to be different" _she would say.

Ankoku even told her about the strange dreams she had with that girl and that boy named Riku.

Yep. Hanging out with her made her missions a lot more enjoyable.

/

_Day 71_

It had been nearly a month since news that the members of Castle Oblivion were terminated.

Roxas was still a little moody about it, but it wasn't as bad as before.

Tsukiko was still upset as well, but Ankoku would always see her after her missions to make her feel better.

Today, she and Roxas were paired up to do their mission in Twilight Town.

Apparently, there were these dark blobs that were all over the town.

They were harmless, but Saix thought that having them around would interfere with their heart collecting.

"That guy is just giving us random missions" Ankoku said.

"I bet he's trying to get us killed and make it seem like we died in the line of duty or something"

Roxas didn't say anything as they arrived at the town.

He hardly talked anymore except if he was asked a question.

Ankoku just sighed and pinched his brother's face.

"Listen, Roxas" she said.

"Being sad and gloomy won't bring Axel back. All things have an end point. We're no different"

She let go of his face and placed her hands on her hips.

"I'm sure if Axel were here now, he would think the way that you were acting was pathetic. You're a keyblade master, so show some more 'oomph'"

Roxas looked at his sister.

She did have a point.

If Axel were here, he wouldn't like to see the way that he was.

He would have wanted him to carry on with his life as if nothing was wrong.

He gave her a small smile.

"You're right, Sis" he said.

Ankoku wore a know-it-all smirk.

"Of course I do" she said.

"I'm the eldest, so I know more than you"

Roxas just chuckled slightly.

Ankoku looked around the alley way.

She didn't see any dark globs, but she knew they were around town.

"Let's split up" she said.

"You take the tram common and clock tower. I'll take the sandlot and market place"

Roxas nodded and ran off to get rid of his portion of the prey.

Ankoku summoned her black keyblade and headed towards the sandlot.

"This should be easy" she said.

/

And easy was right.

Saix wasn't kidding when he said that the globs were harmless.

She had figured that they would spew stuff out when she attacked them, but instead, they simply stood there and got hacked away.

"I think this has to be the easiest mission I've had so far" she said.

She headed back towards the alley where she saw Roxas waiting for her.

He opened up a portal.

"Let's head back" he said.

Ankoku nodded.

She really wanted to go get ice cream, but she figured Roxas wanted to just head home.

Just as they were about to step in, a familiar voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Hey, Roxas. Ankoku"

The twins slowly turned around and saw Axel standing a little ways off.

The red head smiled at them.

"How's it hanging?" he asked.

Roxas and Ankoku's eyes nearly bugged out.

They had thought Axel perished with the rest of the members who went to Castle Oblivion, but he was standing right here.

Axel walked up towards them.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"You both look like you saw a ghost"

Roxas stuttered a little before he spoke.

"Axel?" he asked.

Ankoku pointed a shaky finger at him.

"But…we thought you were gone!" she cried.

"Castle Oblivion-the whole team was annihilated"

Axel wore a know-it-all smirk.

"Correction" he said.

"The weaklings were annihilated"

They both looked relieved.

They had thought that they had lost a friend.

Ankoku knew that Tsukiko would be happy to hear this.

"You had us worried" Roxas said.

Axel snorted.

"Worried?" he asked.

"Well, that's a neat trick, considering you haven't got hearts to feel with"

Ankoku just rolled her eyes.

"_Same old Axel" _she thought.

Roxas smiled.

"W-wait here!" he said.

"I'll go buy is some ice cream!"

He ran off to the market place to get their favorite frozen treat.

Ankoku stayed behind so she could talk to Axel.

She was seriously going to chew him out for acting like he was dead.

She sent him a nasty glare.

Axe just sweat dropped.

"What?" he asked.

"You have a lot of nerve to pull a stunt like that" Ankoku replied.

"You should have seen Tsukiko when I told her what happened at Castle Oblivion. She was ballistic. You better apologize to her"

Axel just rubbed his head.

"Already did" he said.

"She was really mad when I told her, but she forgave me"

Ankoku just gave him a dull look.

"What she sees in you is beyond me" she said.

Axel gave her a cocky grin.

"It's because I'm hot and so good looking. None of the ladies can resist my charm"

Ankoku just looked disgusted.

"Yuck" she said.

Axel just laughed.

"Come on. I bet Roxas is waiting for us" he said.

They both headed up to their usual spot.

/

The three of them ate their ice cream as they watched the sunset.

It was nice having Axel back in the group.

He made things livelier with his sarcastic attitude.

Axel took a bite of his ice cream before talking.

"I gotta check in with the boss, or he's gonna let me have it" he said.

The twins looked at him.

"You haven't RTC'd yet?" Roxas asked.

Axel shook his head.

"Nah" he said.

"Then where were you this whole time then?" Ankoku asked.

Axel wore a cocky smirk.

"I was at Tsukiko's, where else?" he said.

Ankoku glared at him.

"You better not have done anything to her" she growled.

Axel just laughed at her.

"Please" he said.

"Why would I do anything to one of my closest friends? I'm not that heartless"

He laughed at his own joke.

"Well, why did you come here then?" Roxas asked.

Axel shrugged.

"Guess I needed some time to sort out my feelings" he said.

Ankoku just rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, mister I-don't-have-a-heart" she said.

Everyone just laughed at the joke.

Axel noticed that Roxas had hardly eaten his ice cream.

"Hey, your ice cream's melting" he said.

"Eat up"

Roxas nodded and slowly ate his ice cream.

"You know, I started inviting Xion up here with us while you were gone" he said.

Axel raised an eyebrow.

"Xion? Really?" he asked.

Roxas nodded.

"Yeah" he said.

"I promised her that the four of us could have ice cream together-you know, once you got back"

Ankoku smiled.

"We're all friends now" she said.

"And it's kind of nice. I'm not the only girl up here eating ice cream"

They caught up for the rest of the evening and ate their ice cream.

This time, when Ankoku ate hers, it tasted sweeter than it did salty.

/

That night, Axel stood in his room and looked out his bedroom window.

It was weird being back here, but it was better than staying in that all white Castel Oblivion with Larxene and Marluxia.

As he was looking out the window, Saix walked into his room.

His face was as cold looking as ever.

"Why didn't you report in?" he asked.

Axel looked over his shoulder.

He wasn't going to tell him that he was with Tsukiko.

He kept his relationship with her a secret.

No one was supposed to know about the Organization, and if they found out about her, he knew they would kill her.

He wasn't going let that happen.

He turned around and faced the blue elf.

"Oh, good to see you too" he said sarcastically.

"You're welcome. Thanks for the kind words"

Saix just ignored his sarcasm.

"I'm told Namine has gone missing" he said.

Axel held back a smirk.

He also wasn't going to let Saix know that he was the one who let her go free.

"There one minute, gone the next" he said.

"I don't know how she got out"

Saix glared at him.

"You searched every room, I expected?" he asked.

Axel just scoffed.

"You're kidding, right?" he asked.

"That's like counting grains of dust in a building full of sneezing people"

Saix just gave him an icy stare.

"What about the chamber?" he asked.

"Did you find it?"

Axel placed his hands on his hips.

"Come on, I would have told you that much" he said.

He wore a cocky smirk.

"But I gotta hand it to you…you were right" he said.

"About Marlixia, the traitors….you knew exactly what was up"

"All I did was find a place to send everyone who was getting in the way" Saix replied.

Axel scoffed.

"Well, isn't that nice to know where I stand" he said sarcastically.

"Did you come back in one piece, or didn't you?" Saix asked.

He started walking away.

He stopped when Axel spoke up.

"I disposed of Zexion" he said.

He wore an evil smirk.

"That's how you wanted it, right?" he asked.

"I'll play along…for now"

With that, Saix left the room.

Axel just sighed and looked out his window again.

"I never get cut any slack"

/

**A/N: Yay! Axel's back! I'm sure you knew that I wouldn't do that. He is one of my favorite Organization members. I sure Tsukiko is really happy to have her sweetheart back.**

**Now that our favorite red head is back, what else is going to happen to our favorite Nobodies?**

**You'll just have to review to find out.**

**Ja ne**


	12. A friend in need

Chapter 12: A friend in need

**A/N: Now that Axel's back, things are bound to be interesting for everyone. I wonder how Xion will react to him? **

**And thanks to all of you who reviewed this story. I know this isn't the best story of my 'trail of memories' series, but it makes me happy to know that there are some of you out there who are willing enough to let me know you're reading the story. And it motivates me to keep writing. **

**So thank you very much!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

During the night, Ankoku had a very strange dream.

She had been seeing that girl who looked just like her all week, but this dream seemed different.

It was like she was seeing what was going to happen into the future.

/

_Ankoku and Xion were at this dark and gloomy castle._

_Saix had sent them there for their mission._

_They kept their hoods up so no one would notice them._

_They were about to head into the castle, but they were stopped by someone who stood in front of the bridge._

_He wore an Organization cloak like theirs and had his hood up._

_Ankoku and Xion pulled out their keyblades and held them tightly._

"_Who are you?" Ankoku demanded._

_The person looked at them for a moment before pulled their hood back._

_The person was revealed to be a man._

_He had pale skin and wore a black blind fold over his eyes._

_The one thing that stood out for Ankoku was the mop of silver hair that fell over his shoulders._

_Very familiar silver hair._

/

Ankoku just groaned as she slept.

She wasn't even going to bother figuring out that dream.

"_Too much of a hassle" _she thought.

/

The next day, Ankoku found Roxas and Axel waiting for her.

She waved at them when she reached them.

"So what mission did the elf man give you today?" she asked.

Axel snorted at her little comment.

"Well, as a 'slap on the wrist', I have to team up with Roxas today" he said.

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

"How is that a slap on the wrist?" she asked.

"Oh, you know" Axel said.

"Simply because they know I hate babysitting"

Ankoku just chuckled.

"Oh, that's nice" she said.

Roxas smirked too.

"Thanks for that" he said.

Axel just shrugged.

"So what about you?" he asked Ankoku.

"What mission do you have?"

Ankoku just gave him a dull look.

"I don't know, but I can predict that it's going to be a solo mission" she said.

"Oh, sounds fun" Axel said sarcastically.

Ankoku just rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. It'll be a blast"

/

And a 'blast' it was.

Apparently, Saix was at his boiling point with Ankoku's mouth.

He thought that the best punishment for her was to do recon mission on a new world.

She was sent to this place called 'Beast's Castle' and checked the area for anything unusual.

She noted that this was the castle that she saw in her most recent dream.

"_Was my mind telling me that this place will become important to me?" _she thought.

She really didn't want to think it over.

The only thing she had in mind was to finish up and get out of this world.

She simply did a scan over the place before hurrying back to Twilight Town.

She searched for Tsukiko to see how she was doing.

She figured she would be happy, knowing that Axel was alive.

She spotted the black haired beauty in the sandlot.

"Tsukiko!"

The young woman when she saw her closet friend.

"Hey Ankoku" she said.

Ankoku placed her hands on her pocket when she reached her.

"So, I take it you know that Axel's back?" she asked.

Tsukiko nodded.

"Yeah, he came to see me the night before" she said.

"I was really surprised, but happy"

Ankoku smiled.

"I bet you were" she said.

Tsukiko laughed as she rubbed her head.

"Although, I did punish severely when he told me what happened" she said.

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

"What did you do?"

Tsukiko looked off into the distance.

"Well…"

/

_Flashback_

_Axel wore this trademark cocky smirk after he told Tsukiko everything that happened at Castle Oblivion._

_Tsukiko was still a little dazed by everything that happened._

_First, she was surprised to see that he was actually alive, and now he was telling her that he had to stay behind looking for something._

_Axel laughed slightly._

"_And that's pretty much it" he said._

"_I hope you weren't too upset over it"_

_His answer was a slap across the face._

_Axel looked stunned as he held his face._

"_What the hell?"_

_Tsukiko bitch slapped him across the face a couple of times before grabbing his face and pinching it._

_She had tears pool her eyes as she looked at him._

"_You jerk!" she cried._

"_I was so worried! I thought you really were gone! How could you do that to me?"_

_Axel carefully took her hands off his face and held them._

"_Believe me, if I wasn't told to stay there, I would have left" he said._

_He wiped the tears from her eyes._

"_Sorry I made you worry"_

_Tsukiko just hugged him tightly and buried her face in his chest._

"_You pull something like that again, and I'll shop off your little buddy with one of your Chakrams" she said._

_Axel flinched at the threat, but didn't show it._

"_I'll keep that in mind" he said._

_/_

Ankoku sweat dropped at the end of the story.

She learned that Tsukiko was a very scary and violent person.

Tsukiko just laughed it off.

"Anyway, I was going to head up to the clock tower to wait for Axel" she said.

"I take it that's where you were going?"

Ankoku nodded.

"Yeah, but since you're here, then I won't be the only girl eating ice cream" she said.

Tsukiko giggled at that.

"Well, we better not keep them waiting"

They headed up to the clock tower to meet up with their male companions.

/

Axel and Roxas were already waiting for them when they arrived.

They got their ice cream for them and talked with them for a while.

Roxas filled Ankoku in about his mission in Agrabah while she told him about hers.

After a while, Axel turned to the twins.

"You both are more outgoing now, you know that?" he asked.

Ankoku smirked.

"We have you to thank" she said.

"You're more outgoing too" Roxas added.

Axel shrugged.

"Me? You think?" he asked.

"They must have rubbed off on me"

The twins raided an eyebrow.

"Who did?" they asked.

Axel just waved them off.

"Let's just say that it's thanks to the both of you that we get to sit here again and laugh like idiots over ice cream" he said.

They just laughed a little and ate their ice cream.

Roxas looked off to the side as if expecting someone.

"I guess Xion's not gonna show today" he said.

Tsukiko nibbled on her stick.

"Not that you mention it, I haven't seen her since the day that you two woke up" she said.

Roxas just shrugged and ate his ice cream.

/

The next day, Ankoku found Roxas looking around in the main lobby for someone.

"What's up, Roxas?"

Roxas turned to his twin.

"I'm looking for Xion" he said.

"Have you seen her?"

Ankoku shook her head.

"I haven't seen her since we woke up" she said.

"Maybe she's on a mission or something"

Just then, Axel came into the room.

"What's up, you two?" he asked.

Roxas looked at his best friend.

"Axel. Have you seen Number XVI?" he asked.

Axel raised an eyebrow.

"Xion?" he asked.

The thought about it for a bit.

"Now that you mention it, no" he said.

Roxas looked upset.

"It's been days now…" he said.

"Ten days, at least"

Ankoku pondered over this as well.

Roxas did have a point.

She didn't see Xion for that long either.

She thought maybe she was on a mission, but to be on it for ten days? Now that was fishy.

Axel ran a hand through his spiky red hair.

"Wish I could help, but I off for C.O. almost as soon as Xion joined up" he said.

"There's a lot I missed"

Roxas hung his head.

"I feel bad" he said.

"I promised that we'd all get together for some ice cream"

Axel studied him for a moment.

"The three of you are friends, right?" he asked.

"Tell ya what. I'll pick Saix's brain, see what I can find out"

Roxas smiled.

"Thanks, Axel" he said.

Ankoku just snorted.

"Good luck with that" she said.

"I nearly had to give an arm and a leg to that guy just so he could tell me what was going on at Castle Oblivion. He likes to keep things tight lipped"

Axel wore his cocky grin.

"Don't worry, I have my ways" he said.

Ankoku just rolled her eyes.

She looked at her twin brother.

"Come on, Roxas. Let's go on our mission"

Roxas nodded and they both headed out to their destined world.

/

Later that day, they were so tired from their mission, that they didn't even bother heading for the clock tower.

Instead, they just went to bed and slept.

Ankoku had that same dream about Beast's castle and that mysterious boy with the Organization cloak.

She couldn't help but think that this boy was familiar.

/

The next day, Roxas and Ankoku found Axel waiting for them.

"Rise and shine, sleepyheads" he said.

Ankoku gave him a tired glare.

Axel wore a cocky smirk.

"I asked Saix about Xion" he said.

That woke the twins up.

"And?" Roxas asked.

Axel rubbed his head.

"Your friend was sent out on a mission, but never RTC'd" he said.

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

"But…why not?" she asked.

"Shouldn't the mission be done by now?"

Axel shrugged.

"I dunno" he said.

"But we'll find out what happened soon enough"

Roxas looked at him.

"Why's that?" he asked.

Axel smiled.

"We get to go track down Xion" he said.

"That's our mission"

Roxas looked surprised.

"You mean it?" he asked.

Axel snorted.

"No, I made it all up" he said.

"Go back to sleep-yeah, I mean it. Now go get ready"

They all got ready and headed to Twilight Town.

/

When they arrived at the allies, Roxas looked at Axel.

"Where do you think Xion is?" he asked.

Axel shrugged.

"Well, the mission in question was to take out a giant heartless" he said.

"That could be anywhere" Roxas said.

"Then let's split up and start looking" Ankoku said.

They decided that Roxas and Axel would look through the allies and caverns while Ankoku checked the market place and sandlot.

"We'll meet back here in half an hour" Ankoku said.

They all ran off to their locations and searched for their missing friend.

/

Ankoku searched the entire sandlot before.

There wasn't anyone there, save for a few heartless.

When she headed to the marketplace, she found Tsukiko and decided to ask for her help.

The young woman nodded and they searched the whole area.

"So you say she hasn't returned from her mission?" Tsukiko asked.

Ankoku nodded.

"That's what Axel said" she said.

"I don't see how it would take her ten days just to destroy a heartless"

Tsukiko shrugged.

"I guess some heartless are hard to fight by yourself" she said.

"Plus, she's new, so she might not be as strong as the rest of you are"

Ankoku just shrugged.

She hoped that Xion was ok.

She knew that was a weak fighter when it came to using a weapon.

She usually used magic when she got the chance to.

Tsukiko sighed when they finished searching the area.

"She's not here, so I don't know where she could be" she said.

Ankoku just put her hands in her pockets.

"Let's meet up with Roxas and Axel. Maybe they know something"

Tsukiko just shrugged and walked with her towards the allies.

/

Roxas and Axel were waiting for them when they came to the allies.

"Did you find anything?" Ankoku asked.

Roxas nodded.

"We heard from someone that there's something going on in the woods" he said.

"It turns out that the trees act weird when you hit them and that it feels like you're being watched, even though no one is there"

Tsukiko placed her hands in her pockets.

"You probably heard that from Pence" she said.

"He's always trying to find new things about the town"

Ankoku looked at her.

"Do think that the info he gave us is any good?" she asked.

Tsukiko shrugged.

"Who knows? But it's worth looking into. Maybe it's connected with where Xion is"

Ankoku nodded.

"All right then, you lead the way" she said.

Tsukiko nodded and lead them towards the woods.

/

The only way they could get to the woods was through an opening in one of the wall in the market place.

"No one really comes out here, so this place can be a little creepy" Tsukiko said.

Ankoku looked at all of the trees.

According to what Roxas heard, the trees would act funny when you hit them.

She pulled out her keyblade.

"Alright, let's see which one of these bad boys acts funny"

Axel snorted.

"Good luck" he said.

"With all of these trees here, you'll be up all night"

Ankoku looked at him.

"And I suppose you have a better plan?" she asked.

Axel shrugged.

"We could just burn them" he said.

Ankoku gave him a dull glare.

"What is it with you and burning things?" she asked.

"Don't forget that we're in the woods too. If you set these trees on fire, then you're going to burn us too"

Axel gave her a glare.

"Well excuse me Miss. I-know-everything" he said.

"I'm just trying to buy us some time so we can find Xion"

"Yeah, well burning us up won't find her, now will it?" Ankoku retorted.

As they were arguing, Roxas went up to one of the trees that he saw leaves were coming off and hit it.

This resulted in the tree shaking a bit.

Axle and Ankoku stopped their arguing when they saw the tree move.

"Looks like we got a live one" Tsukiko said.

Ankoku looked at Axel.

"And you wanted to burn the trees down" she said.

Axel gave her a dull glare.

"Oh, shut up" he said.

Whatever was in the trees seemed to move because they saw the trees that were farther away move.

It seemed like it was heading towards the opening in the forest.

"Hurry! We can't let it get away!" Roxas cried.

They all ran after it and ended up in front of what appeared to be an abandoned mansion.

At the front of the gates, a giant chameleon heartless appeared before them.

Everyone pulled out their weapons.

"You think that's the one?" Roxas asked.

"No wonder Xion had trouble" Axel said.

"It was blending with the scenery"

Ankoku looked around.

"So where's Xion?" she asked.

"Still out trying to find it probably" Tsukiko said.

"I say we do her a favor and get rid of this sucker before it gets away again"

The twins nodded at that idea and faced the heartless.

They started attacking it when it became visible.

Axel and Tsukiko would inflict long arrange attacks by throwing their weapons while Roxas and Ankoku used close range with their keyblades.

When the heartless went invisible, Ankoku searched the area.

She tried to use her powers to predict where it would show up again.

As she did, she spotted Xion running across the field.

"Xion!" she cried.

Xion turned to them and looked surprised.

"Ankoku? Roxas?"

Just then, the heartless appeared behind her.

Ankoku panicked.

"Xion! Look out!"

But it was too late.

The heartless swatted her away and knocked her out.

"Xion!" Roxas cried.

"Focus Roxas!" Axel said.

"We have to take that thing out first!"

Roxas nodded.

Ankoku turned to Tsukiko.

"Please take care of Xion"

Tsukiko nodded and quickly picked Xion up before carrying her off to the side lines.

The three nobodies faced the heartless.

Roxas and Ankoku attacked first while Axel set his Chakrams on fire and threw them at the heartless.

The heartless liked to attack using its arms and long sticky tongue.

Roxas got hit with it a few times and was slowing down.

Ankoku went to land and attack it, but got swatted away with its long arm.

She growled in frustration.

"Alright, that's it!"

She got up and looked at Roxas.

"Roxas! Use your limit break!"

Roxas nodded.

The twins gathered all of the energy that was built inside them and activated their limit breaks.

They slashed at the heartless and wouldn't stop until it was down for the count.

The heartless let out a weak cry and disappeared when its heart was gone.

The group ran over to where Xion and Tsukiko were.

"Xion! Are you okay?" Roxas asked.

Xion groaned as she was leaned up against Tsukiko.

She looked up at her friends.

"Roxas? Ankoku?"

Ankoku held out a hand and helped her up.

"That looked like it hurt" she said.

Xion dusted herself off.

"I'm fine" she said.

"It's just…"

Axel walked up to the group.

"You can tell us all about it-but first, let's find a place to sit down"

Tsukiko carried Xion on her back so she wouldn't strain herself and headed towards the clock tower with the others.

/

The group sat at their usual spot and ate ice cream.

Ankoku was enjoying her frozen treat.

When she looked at Xion, she frowned a little.

Xion just looked at the ground and let her ice cream melt.

Tsukiko saw this too.

"Eat up" she said.

"It's going to melt"

Xion nodded slowly.

"I know" she said.

Axel looked at her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Not hungry?"

Xion didn't say anything.

"You wanna talk about it?" Roxas asked.

Xion still didn't say anything.

"We're here for you if you want to get it off your chest" Axel said.

"Right guys?"

Everyone nodded.

"Yeah" Ankoku said.

"That's what friends are for"

Xion looked at them before looking back at her ice cream.

"I can't…I can't use the keyblades anymore" she said.

Everyone's eyes bugged out.

"What?" Ankoku asked.

She could understand if she couldn't use one, but both of them?

Xion looked at them.

"And without them, I can't do my job" she said.

"What happened?" Roxas asked.

"I don't know" Xion said.

"But if I don't defeat heartless with the keyblades…the hearts they release just find their way into another heartless instead"

She looked at the ground sadly.

"I swat them in one place and they just pop up in another" she said.

"I'm supposed to be collecting hearts. Those are my orders. Without the keyblades…I'm useless"

Roxas turned to Axel.

Just hearing about Xion's story really affected him.

He didn't want to see his friend like this.

"Is there anything you can do, Axel?" he asked.

Axel had a grim expression on his face.

This was a really tricky situation.

"Wish there was" he said.

"But…it's just like Xion said. No keyblades, no can do"

Xion trembled slightly.

"They'll turn me into a dusk once they find out they don't need me" she said.

Tsukiko rubbed her back.

"Don't worry, honey. That won't happen" she said.

Ankoku looked at Axel.

"C'mon, Axel, think of something!" she said.

Axel glared at her.

"Hey, I'm racking my brain here, and there's just no way-"

He suddenly broke into a grin.

"Wait" he said.

He looked at the others.

"What if you guys worked double duty?" he asked.

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?" she asked.

"What do you mean, Axel?" Xion asked.

Axel smirked.

"Xion, stick with Roxas and Ankoku until you can control your keyblades again" he said.

"Make sure your missions are with them. Then, they can collect hearts…and nobody will ever have to know that you're not doing the same"

The twins faces lit up.

"Axel, that's brilliant!" Roxas said.

Axel waved a finger.

"Ah, ah ,ah" he said.

"Just remember that you both have to collect twice as many hearts"

Ankoku shrugged.

"We can do it" she said.

Xion looked at them.

"You don't mind?" she asked.

Roxas grinned.

"Of course not" he said.

Xion looked at the ground.

"But-" she said.

"Hey, friends have gotta be able to lean on each other now and then" Axel said.

"Ain't that right you guys?"

Ankoku nodded.

Xion smiled softly.

"Thanks" she said.

She looked at Axel.

"So…Axel, does that mean you and I can be friends?" she asked.

Axel smirked.

"Well, yeah. Was there ever any doubt?" he asked.

"Any friend of Roxas and Ankoku's is a friend of mine"

Xion smiled brightly.

"Thank you, you guys" she said.

Tsukiko smiled at this.

"Aww, this is too cute to be real" she said.

Axel gave her a cocky smirk.

"Oh, so now I'm cute?" he asked.

Tsukiko gave him off as she giggled.

"Please, you're anything but cute" she said.

"Oh, thanks for that" Axel said.

They all laughed and enjoyed their ice cream.

They wanted to enjoy this moment before they set their plans up for tomorrow.

Ankoku just knew that everything would be alright.

/

**A/N: So it looks like our three keyblade wielders are going to be working together. That should be interesting. It also seems like Ankoku is having visions of our favorite silver haired hero. Will her visions come true of seeing him? Or is her mind simply playing tricks? **

**You'll just have to review to find out.**

**Ja ne**


	13. Inseparable

Chapter 13: Inseparable

**A/N: Now we get to see our three keyblade masters working together. This should be exciting.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

The next day, Xion was waiting for Roxas and Ankoku.

She wondered if Axel's plans would work.

When the twins came, she said morning to them.

"You ready to give this a shot?" she asked.

Roxas and Ankoku nodded.

"You leave all of the talking to me" Ankoku said.

"I'll make Saix see it my way"

"Good luck with that" Roxas said.

"If Saix is able to hate anyone, you're on the top of his list"

Ankoku glared at him.

"Watch it, or Xion won't be the only one who can't use her keyblade" she said.

Roxas held his hands up defensively.

The three of them went to Saix and told them about their plan.

The elf simply gave them a cold stare.

"Together?" he asked.

Xion nodded.

"Yeah, is that a problem?" she asked.

Saix glared at them.

"What in the world would posses you to ask at a time like this?" he asked.

"We're shorthanded as it is. And yet you expect me to say yes?"

Roxas and Xion hung their heads.

Ankoku on the other hand simply placed her hands on her hips.

"Come on, it's not that hard to say" she said.

"It's only three simple letters. I'm sure you can say it. If not, I'll demonstrate for you"

Roxas looked at his twin.

"Sis" he said hissed.

Saix glared darkly at her.

He was about to say something, but Axel stopped him.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Seems like a good idea to me. Put three half-pints together and you get a whole"

Ankoku gave him a look.

Why did he have to call her a half-pint?

Saix didn't say anything.

Roxas quickly added something that would change his mind.

"If you let us work together, we can do tougher missions for you"

Saix mulled this over.

"Very well then" he said.

The three keyblade masters looked relieved.

"Now was that so hard?" Ankoku asked.

Saix just glared at her.

"Get to work" he said.

Ankoku just waved him off and looked at her two comrades.

"Come on, let's go" she said.

They opened up a portal and went through.

"I swear, one of these days he's going to hit you" Roxas said.

Ankoku just laughed.

"As if" she said.

"He's all bark but no bite"

Xion just giggled at they went to their destined world.

/

Their first few missions went better than they expected.

All they had to do was eliminated some heartless and make it look like Xion did half of the work.

It was tiring for Roxas and Ankoku, but it was worth it.

If they were able to protect their friend and cover her mess up, then they wouldn't complain.

Although, during their missions, Ankoku kept seeing images of the girl that looked just like her.

Whenever they went to one of the worlds that they went to, she would see the girl in the same place.

It would leave her puzzled and confused.

Why was she seeing this girl lately and what did these visions mean?

She would talk to Tsukiko about and see what she would say.

Today was no different.

After a long, tiring mission, she sat on the clock tower with her closest friend.

Roxas and Xion were resting and Axel was doing other things.

Tsukiko mulled over what Ankoku said.

"Maybe it's like when you have your visions?" she suggested.

"Whenever you have a vision about something, it usually happens later on"

Ankoku just shrugged.

"I don't know" she said.

"I know some of the visions I have to happen, but when I have visions about this girl, they seem…different"

Tsukiko raised an eyebrow.

"Different?" she asked.

"How so?"

Ankoku just looked at her ice cream as she thought of what to say.

"Well…when I have a vision of what's to happen…I usually feel it in my gut" she began.

"But when I have visions of this girl and that boy named Riku…I usually sense it in my…"

She placed a hand over where her heart should be.

"I don't know why I would sense anything there" she said.

"But for some reason, I do"

She looked at Tsukiko.

"Do you think that's weird?"

Tsukiko just gave her a gentle smile.

"Not at all" she said.

She placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"These visions you're having must be very important. If you keep having them, then just try to understand what they're trying to tell you. You'll figure it out somehow"

Ankoku smiled at her.

"You sure do have a way with words, you know that?"

Tsukiko shrugged.

"I do what I can" she said.

Ankoku just laughed at that.

The two girls enjoyed each other's company before Ankoku had to go back to another stressful mission.

/

_Day 94_

Ankoku stretched all the kinks out of her back as she headed for the main room.

"Man, I am not going to like the mission Saix gives us today" she said.

She expected to see the elf waiting for her, but she found that no one was in the main room.

The whole area was empty.

"Where is everyone?"

Roxas came into the room a few seconds later and reacted the same way.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Ankoku shrugged.

Saix came up to them.

"Lord Xemnas has summoned us" he said.

He lead them outside where everyone was gathered.

Xemnas was looking up at the sky when he spoke to everyone.

"The time has arrived" he said.

"Look at the skies!"

Everyone saw a heart shaped moon suddenly appear over the castle.

"There hangs the heart of all heart-Kingdom Hearts-shining down on us at last"

Ankoku was amazed by the sight.

She had never seen anything like it before.

"See the countless hearts that have gathered?" Xemnas asked.

"Hearts full of rage…hate…sadness…and bliss. There in the sky, hangs the promise of a new world"

Xemnas turned to everyone.

"My friends" he said.

"Remember why we have organized-all the things we hope to achieve. The strength of the human heart is vast. Soon…we will have gained power over it! Never again will it…have power over us"

Everyone just watched at Kingdom Hearts illuminated over the castle.

/

The next couple of days were hard for the keyblade trio.

Since Kingdom Hearts appeared, that meant they had to gather even more hearts to keep it in tack.

That meant, Roxas and Ankoku had to work even harder than they did before.

If they didn't want Xion to be found out, they had to bear with it.

On more than one occasion, Ankoku had to have Tsukiko take care of some of her injuries.

"You're a magnet for trouble" she would always say.

Ankoku would just groan and deal with it.

She didn't care.

She just wanted to help Xion out.

She thought this little lie would go on for a tiny bit more, but Saix had other plans for them.

/

"Roxas, Ankoku. I need you both on separate missions"

The twins paled when Saix gave them their mission the next day.

They couldn't be separated from Xion yet.

She still didn't have her keyblade.

"Two major heartless have appeared on separate worlds" Saix continued.

"Xion will take Agrabah and the twins will take Beast's castle"

Xion resisted to gulp.

There was no way that they would be able to convince the elf to let them go on a mission together.

Ankoku tried to think up of what to say that would make Saix change his mind, although she figured he wouldn't listen to her since she liked to talk back to them.

Luckily, Axel was there to save the day.

"Whoa, you're going to send the twins to Beast's Castle?" he asked.

He walked over to them.

"I saw the heartless there yesterday for recon, remember?" he said.

"I saw the heartless you're talking about. You don't want to pit Roxas and Ankoku against that thing, not by themselves"

He shrugged.

"Sure, they're both keyblade masters, but they're still rookies. You send them there without any sort of back up, and they're good as gone"

Ankoku gave him a dull glare.

Why did he have to make them sound like they were idiots?

Saix gave him a cold look.

"If I send them all together, who's going to handle the heartless in Agrabah?" he asked.

"I will" Axel said.

Saix raised an eyebrow.

"You?" he said.

Axel gave him a cocky smirk.

"Sure, I'm a big boy" he said.

"Except you can't collect hearts" Saix pointed out.

Axel shrugged.

"So what?" he asked.

"I'll keep the heartless out of trouble, then they can hit it another day"

Roxas looked at Saix hopefully.

"Is that ok with you, Saix?" he asked.

Saix just looked away.

"Fine" he said.

"But this is the last day. Starting tomorrow, you work solo missions"

Ankoku pumped her fist when Saix walked away.

Roxas looked at Ankoku and Xion.

"Alright, let's go"

They opened up a portal and headed for Beast's Castle.

Axel just watched as his friends left.

Saix turned to Axel.

"Don't think for a minute I believed that" he said.

The side of Axel's mouth twitched into a smirk.

"Believe what?" he asked.

Saix glared at him.

"That reprehensible performance" he said.

Axel just shrugged.

"Uh-huh. Well, I better get over to Agrabah" he said.

He opened a portal and headed for Agrabah.

/

Back to the keyblade trio, the portal brought them to the cellar of the castle.

Xion hung her head sadly.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do starting tomorrow" she said.

She tried to summon her keyblades, but it wouldn't work.

"It's no use" she said.

Roxas and Ankoku summoned up their keyblades.

If Xion couldn't use her keyblades, then perhaps she could….

"What about our keyblades?" Roxas asked.

"Can you control them?"

They handed her the keyblades as a test.

She swung them around and found that she could control them.

"I guess…I can" she said.

"Then go ahead and use them for the day" Ankoku said.

Xion looked at them.

"But you guys-"

Roxas smiled at her.

"Maybe it'll help you remember how to summon yours" he said.

Xion tilted her head.

"What are you going to use?" she asked.

Roxas looked around the cellar and found a large, sturdy stick.

"I can improvise" he said.

Ankoku sweat dropped.

"Roxas, that's a stick" She said.

Roxas looked at his sister.

"Hey, Xion managed without a keyblade. You think I'm not up to it?"

Ankoku shook her head.

Xion looked at her.

"What will you use?" she asked.

Ankoku shrugged.

"I'll just use magic" she said.

"I'm capable of using it without my keyblade"

Xion nodded.

"Thanks" she said.

The twins smiled.

"Now let's go hunt that heartless and get some ice cream" Roxas said.

They left the cellar and searched for their target.

/

They had to be really careful while they snuck around the castle.

Since the servants patrolled the hallways, they had to be extra careful when they walked past them.

They weren't suppose to be seen.

When they made it to the grand entrance, they tried to figure out where this giant heartless would be.

Roxas looked at Ankoku.

"Hey, Sis. Can you use your powers to see where our target is?" he asked.

Ankoku sweat dropped at him.

Why did they always have to ask her where their targets would be?

Sure, she was able to see into the future, but that wasn't her job description.

"I don't have to predict where it will be, Roxas" she said.

"If it's a giant heartless, then it'll be in the biggest place here"

Xion tilted her head.

"And where would that be?" she asked.

Ankoku pointed to the large door that stood in the middle of the stairs.

"The ballroom" she said.

They all headed towards the ballroom to see if Ankoku's prediction was correct.

/

And correct she was.

There standing in the middle of the ballroom was a giant dog like heartless.

Roxas looked at Xion.

"Maybe fighting this heartless will jog your memory of the keyblades" he said.

Xion gripped the two keys tightly within her hands.

This was moment was curtail to her.

If she didn't learn how to summon her keyblades after this fight, then she was done for.

Ankoku got into a fighting stance.

"Let's finish this before we become it's dog chow" she said.

Roxas and Xion nodded and gripped their weapons.

They all attacked first before the heartless could get to them.

Roxas proved to be a very capable fighter, even though he only had a stick for a weapon.

Ankoku would cast fire spells at it and watched as it burned.

Xion slashed at the heartless and tried to remember using her own keyblades.

When the heartless was gone, Xion handed the twins their keyblades.

"Thanks you two" she said.

"You can have these back"

They both took their keyblades back.

Roxas looked at Xion.

"Did it help?" he asked.

"Do you remember how they work now?"

Xion shrugged.

"I don't know…let me give it another try"

She held out her hands and searched deep within herself.

She envisioned herself holding her two keyblades in her hand once more.

When she was about to stop, the keys magically appeared in her hands.

Ankoku smiled brightly.

"You did it!" she cried.

Xion smiled brightly and jumped up and down.

"I don't believe it!" she said.

"Roxas! Ankoku! It worked! Thank you so much!"

The twins just smiled at their friend.

Xion was finally able to use her keyblades again.

"I can't wait to see Axel's face when we tell him about this" Ankoku said.

They all headed back to the portal to share their good news to their friend.

/

Up at the clock tower, Axel was sitting at his usual spot on the ledge.

He had just gotten back from his mission from Agrabah and he was worn out.

Tsukiko sat next to him and brushed the sand out of his hair.

"Why to take it like a trooper" she said.

Axel just groaned in response.

"Axel!"

They turned around to see the three keyblade wielders coming towards them.

All of them wore a smile on their face.

"Hey, hey" Axel said.

"What are you grinning about?"

Ankoku just stuck her hands in her pockets.

"How was your mission?" she asked.

Axel groaned.

"Oh, loads of fun" he said sarcastically.

"Would it kill the heartless to hold still? I fell right on my butt chasing that stupid thing"

Roxas snorted.

"Nice" he said.

"Didn't we hear you tell Saix you were a big boy" Ankoku added.

Axel gave them a weak glare while Tsukiko chuckled.

"Very funny" he said.

"How'd your caper go?"

The twins looked at Xion, who nodded in understanding.

She summoned her keyblades and held them out for Axel and Tsukiko.

"Ta-daaa!" The twins said.

Tsukiko and Axel both looked amazed when Xion dismissed her weapons.

Xion smiled.

"I'd like to dedicate this keyblade ceremony to my good friends, Roxas, Ankoku, Axel and Tsukiko"

Tsukiko blushed.

"But I didn't do anything" she said.

Xion shook her head.

"You supported me when I thought I might be turned into a dusk" she said.

"Ok, but how did I help out?" Axel asked.

"If you didn't speak up for us, then I would have been separated from Roxas and Ankoku" Xion said.

"And Xion would probably never learn how to use her keyblades again" Ankoku pointed out.

Xion smiled at Axel.

"So thanks, Axel" she said.

Axel just looked away and rubbed his head.

"How about an ice cream then?" he asked.

He looked at Xion.

"Buy me one and we'll call it even"

Xion smiled.

"You got it" she said.

"Wait here, I'll be right back"

She ran off to get some ice cream for everyone.

/

When Xion came back with the ice cream, everyone was laughing and enjoying each other's company.

Roxas looked at the sunset.

"I hope we always have each other" he said.

Ankoku nodded.

"Yeah" she said.

Axel looked at them.

"What's gotten into you?" he asked.

Roxas just shrugged.

"I just…want these days to last forever" he said.

"Hanging out, the ice cream, the sunsets…"

Axel looked at the sunset.

"Nothing lasts forever" he said.

"Least of all for a bunch of Nobodies"

The keyblade trio hung their heads sadly as they thought of this.

Axel was true.

There could be a day when they would suddenly disappear.

Axel looked at them.

"But you know, we still have each other…" he said.

"Even if things change and we don't do this anymore"

Roxas looked at him.

"Yeah?" he asked.

Axel nodded.

"As long as we remember each other, we'll never be apart. Got it memorized?" he said.

Everyone nodded.

Tsukiko giggled a little and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Wow, Axel. That sounded ridiculous" she said.

Ankoku snorted.

"Yeah. That was totally unlike you"

Axel looked at them.

"What? I thought it was pretty deep" he said.

Everyone just laughed at him and enjoyed celebrating Xion getting her keyblades back.

Although Axel's words sounded cheesy now, Ankoku would soon learn that they would be very important later on.

/

**A/N: Yay! Xion got her keyblades back! It's nice to know that she has friends like Ankoku and the others to back her up.**

**But now that she has them, things might get a little hard on her.**

**I wonder what will happen?**

**You'll have to review to find out.**

**Ja ne**


	14. Blue Ribbon

Chapter 14: Blue Ribbon

**A/N: Hey everyone! Now that Xion has her keyblades back, maybe missions won't be so hard for Ankoku. But knowing Saix, I'm sure the blue elf will think of something to make her miserable.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Now that Xion had her keyblades back, Roxas and Ankoku didn't have to work twice as hard as they did before.

They still had to do hard missions to feed Kingdom Hearts, but at least they didn't have to do Xion's share of it.

Life in the Organization was still tough, but Ankoku really didn't mind.

As long as she had her twin brother and friends, she would put up with all of the crappy missions Saix would give her.

That's all that mattered to her.

/

_Day 117_

Axel was sitting casually on his bed.

He had just gotten back from a mission and he wanted to take a nap.

However, that nap would have to wait, because Saix walked into his room without knocking.

Axel gave him a tired glare.

"Ever heard of knocking?" he asked.

Saix just gave him a cool look.

"Tell me what Xion has been doing?" he asked.

He had been finding her behavior lately to be very strange.

First she wanted to go on missions with Roxas and Ankoku, now she was starting to have a will of her own.

Axel looked away.

"How should I know?" he asked.

"I'm not spying on her"

Even though he didn't have a heart, he found Saix to be irritating.

The elf seemed to want to make everyone's personal business his.

Saix just kept staring at him.

"But you two are so close" he asked.

Axel looked at him.

"So what, now I've gotta rat on my own friends to you?" he asked.

"Get out of my room, man"

Saix just stayed put.

"You and Xion will be executing your next mission together" he said.

Axel simply didn't look at him.

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir" he said sarcastically.

"You paid me a personal visit just to tell me that?"

Saix just looked at him.

"We also need you to go back to Castle Oblivion" he said.

Axel looked at him out of the corner of his eye.

"We, or you?" he asked.

He highly doubted Xemnas would want to send him back to Castle Oblivion.

If he did, he would have told him personally.

Saix just looked at the red head.

"That castle hasn't given up all its secrets" he began.

"And there's one in particular Lord Xemnas is especially interested I"

Axel looked at him finally.

"You mean the chamber" he said.

The last time that he was there, he was sent to look for this so called chamber.

He couldn't find it before, so what made Saix think that he would find it this time?

"We turned that place inside out" he said.

"If it's there, we're not gonna find it by just looking"

Saix crossed his arms.

"Then let me give you another incentive" he said.

"Namine isn't the only one who can trace her beginnings to Castle Oblivion. Xion comes from there, too"

That caught Axel's interest.

Normally, when a Nobody is 'born', they arrive at Twilight Town.

If what Saix was saying was true, then that meant Xion was a special Nobody like Namine.

"Three of your favorite people" Saix simply said.

"Still think another visit is a waste of time?"

Axel didn't need to think hard about the three people Saix mentioned.

He was referring to Roxas, Ankoku and Xion.

Saix didn't know about Tsukiko, so he wouldn't know that he had a fourth favorite person.

He simply looked at the blue elf.

He knew there was no way that he could back down from this mission.

Saix wouldn't let him.

"Hmph…whatever" he said.

He would go along with this for now.

"You're the one who wants me to go" he said.

"Don't try and dress it up as a favor"

Saix simply humped.

Axel raised an eyebrow.

"Let me guess…" he said.

"That chamber will tell you everything you don't know about Xemnas's true agenda. Is that the idea?"

Saix simply didn't look at him.

"The Chamber of Repose, and its antipode, the Chamber of Waking…" he said.

"Xemnas isn't telling us something. And the missing chamber, the Chamber of Waking-it holds the answers. We need those answers to gain the upper hand-for our own reasons"

Axel just looked at him.

Even though Saix acted loyal to Xemnas, he was sneaky like a snake and was making plans behind his back.

He was almost as bad as Marluxia.

"Look, I knew Vexen and Zexion would be obstacles" he said.

"That's why they're not here anymore. When have I ever complained about the dirty work?"

Saix simply gave him that cold stare.

Axel glared at him.

"I cleared the way to the top for you" he said.

"Just do me a favor and don't trip on the way up"

Saix turned away.

"A solo mission to Castle Oblivion…" he said.

"Expect the report soon"

With that, he left Axel.

The red head watched as he left before looking at the ground.

"Namine…and Xion?" he said.

Even though he was alone again, he suddenly wasn't in the mood to sleep anymore.

Leave it to Saix to ruin everyone's plans just so his could be fulfilled.

/

_Day 118_

Ankoku groaned as she woke up from her sleep.

She had that same dream of her and Xion at Beast's Castle with the silver haired stranger.

She had been having this dream for over a week now.

Normally, when she had a vision, she would only see it once.

But this vision was strange.

Why would she keep seeing it over and over again?

Was it trying to tell her that something very important was going to happen?

She rubbed her temples and sat up in bed.

There was no use trying to figure it out when she didn't have all of the pieces to put it in place.

She swung her legs over the bed and stood up.

Making sure that her cloak was in perfect condition, she looked herself in the mirror.

She made a face when she saw her reflection.

Her hair and gotten longer since she first joined the Organization.

It started to reach past her shoulders, and it looked messier than ever.

She tried flattening it down, but it would just poof back into place.

She scowled.

Perhaps she should get it cut?

She just shook her head and left her room.

She wasn't looking forward to the mission Saix would be giving her.

/

When she came into the main room, she saw that only Roxas was present.

She figured that maybe she got up early and went over to her brother.

"Hey, Roxas. What's going on?" she asked.

Roxas looked at her then pointed to the note that was stuck on the wall.

Ankoku read it out loud.

"Operations close for vacation?" she asked.

She looked at her brother.

"Do you know what's going on?" she asked.

Roxas shook his head.

"I don't even know what a vacation is, or what kind of mission you do for it" he said.

Ankoku placed her hands in her pocket.

"Let's go find Axel" she said.

"He might know what's going on"

They left the main area and went to find their red headed friend.

/

They spotted him walking down the hallways.

Axel smirked when he saw his friends.

"Hey you guys" he said.

"You hear about the vacation? About time we have off?"

Ankoku nodded.

"Yeah, we heard" she said.

"We've never had a vacation before" Roxas said.

Axel tilted his head.

"Is that right?" he said

"What's our job during vacation?" Roxas asked.

Axel raised an eyebrow.

"What's your-you guys, you're really missing the point" he said.

Ankoku gave him a dry look.

"It's not our fault that we've never had one" she said.

"We don't know what to do"

Axel held up his hands in defense.

"Do what you like" he told them.

Roxas looked at the ground.

"But…I don't know what I like" he said.

Ankoku didn't know what to say.

She didn't know what Roxas really liked either, so she couldn't speak for him.

She looked at Axel.

"What are you gonna do, Axel?" she asked.

Axel shrugged.

"Me?" he asked.

"Sleep. And when I'm done with that, roll over and sleep some more"

Ankoku sweat dropped and gave him a dull look.

"Don't you spend enough time in bed?" she asked.

Axel gave her a playful smirk.

"You kidding? I'd nap six times if they let me"

Ankoku just shook her head.

Typical Axel.

The red headed waved at them.

"All right, snooze-land is calling" he said.

"Enjoy your time off!"

He walked away and left them standing there.

Roxas looked at his twin.

"What do we do, sis?" he asked.

Ankoku shrugged.

"Let's go see what Xion is doing"

They walked down the hallways and looked for Xion.

They found her near one of the stairs.

"Xion!" Ankoku called out.

Xion looked at them.

"Morning, you guys" she said.

Ankoku looked at her friend.

"Did you see the notice posted?" she asked.

Xion nodded.

"What are we suppose to do with a day off?" Roxas asked.

Xion thought about it.

"Well…I was thinking I'd practice" she said.

"Practice?" Roxas asked.

Xion nodded.

"Yeah, I want to get really good using the keyblades" she said.

"Why don't you both join me?"

Ankoku gave her a weak smile.

It was nice that Xion offered, but she would rather do something fun than do anything that was related to her job.

"I'll pass" she said.

Roxas nodded in agreement.

Xion shrugged.

"Ok. Come find me if you change your minds" she said.

She walked off to the training grounds to hon her skills.

Ankoku looked at Roxas.

"Well, if Axel and Xion are too busy to hang out, I'm sure there's one person who would want to spend time with us" she said.

Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"Who?" he asked.

Ankoku just smirked.

/

Tsukiko blinked at the twins.

"So…you have a day off and you don't know what to do with it?" she asked.

Ankoku had taken Roxas to Twilight Town to see if Tsukiko would hang out with them.

They told her about their little vacation and wanted to see if she was free to hang out with them.

Ankoku rubbed her head.

"Pretty much, yeah" she said.

"Axel is sleeping and Xion is practicing, so we wanted to see if you were available to hang out"

Tsukiko smiled.

"Sure" she said.

"I had nothing better to do anyway. What did you guys have in mind to do?"

Roxas shrugged.

"That's the thing" Roxas said.

"We really don't know what to do on our vacation"

Tsukiko placed her hands on her hips.

"I wish I would help you, but I don't know what you like" she said.

"Other than eating Sea-Salt ice cream after every mission"

Just then, Hayner, Pence and Olette ran past them.

"Wait up, Hayner!" Pence shouted.

Hayner grinned as he looked over his shoulder.

"Last one at the sandlot has to buy ice cream!" he called.

"That's not fair!" Olette cried.

"You always win!"

Hayner just laughed as they ran towards the sandlot.

Ankoku looked at her brother to see a longing expression on his face.

It was as if he wanted to join them, but was afraid to.

Even though they were friends with Axel and Xion, they never hung out like Hayner and his friends did.

They never raced to see who would buy ice cream, or things like that.

She gave him a small smile and pushed him towards the sandlot.

"Go ahead" she said.

Roxas looked at his twin.

"You don't mind?" he asked.

Ankoku shook her head.

"We may be twins, but we still need our breathing space" she said.

"Go and enjoy your vacation"

Roxas smiled at her.

"Thanks" he said.

He ran off to go find Hayner and his gang.

Tsukiko looked at Ankoku.

"So what are you going to do?" she asked.

Ankoku shrugged and picked up a lock of her hair.

"Don't know. But I was thinking of getting my hair cut since it's getting long and it's getting in my face" she said.

Tsukiko gave her a look.

"It's not that long" she said.

She picked up a strand and dropped.

"Just get something to pull it back so it's not covering your face"

Ankoku looked at her.

"Well, what am I suppose to pull it back with?"

Tsukiko simply smiled at her.

/

"Ok. Pick whatever color that you like" Tsukiko said.

She had dragged Ankoku to one of the accessory stores in the market place and brought her to the ribbon display.

Ankoku looked at all the colors that were out.

It was like looking at a rainbow or something.

She looked at Tsukiko.

"How do I know if I like something?" she asked.

"I'm a Nobody, and liking is a type of feeling"

Tsukiko nodded in understanding.

"I forgot about that" she said.

She tapped her finger in thought.

"Hmm…then why not try your instincts?" she asked.

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?"

Tsukiko smiled.

"You're instincts" she repeated.

"You may not have a heart, but everyone has their instincts. They let you know what is right and what is wrong. For example, when you got fight heartless, what is your first reaction to them?"

Ankoku shrugged.

"Well, slaying them" she said.

Tsukiko nodded.

"Right. Your instincts tell you that you need to destroy the heartless, or else they'll gather more hearts"

She pointed towards the ribbons.

"Picking a color is no different. See which color that your instincts react to and go with that" she said.

"As an example, my instincts react to the color purple, so I wear that color"

Ankoku looked at her dully.

"But I've never seen you in that color" she pointed out.

Tsukiko just grabbed her face in a vice like grip and had a creepy smile on her face.

"That's beside the point" she said.

She let go of her face.

"Besides, they don't have the type of outfits that I want in that color, so I just stick with this outfit"

Ankoku just nodded while she rubbed her face.

Tsukiko pushed her back towards the ribbons.

"Now see which color your instincts pick out" she said.

Ankoku looked at the row of ribbons.

She really didn't know which color to pick.

The yellows, oranges, and pinks seemed to be too bright for her.

The greens, purples and blacks were too boring.

When she was a red ribbon, she picked it up.

She remembered that the girl in her dream always wore a red ribbon.

She claimed that it was her treasure.

She thought about picking this color, but her eyes landed on a royal blue ribbon.

The color looked so pretty, and it reminded her of the blue outfit she wore when she was 'born'.

She remembered how calming the colors made her look.

She placed the red ribbon down and picked up the blue one.

"_Red is too bright for me anyway" _she thought.

As she gripped the ribbon in her hand, she knew that her instincts were aimed for this color.

She turned to Tsukiko and held out the ribbon.

"This is the color my instincts decided" she said.

Tsukiko smiled.

"Then let's go pay for it and put it in your hair"

They paid for it and headed towards the clock tower.

/

Ankoku sat still as Tsukiko messed with her hair.

The young woman decided to give a type of ponytail so her hair would cover her face.

Her hair was still down, but parts of it were pulled back.

She tied the blue ribbon into a type of knot and let the remaining strands fall on the back of her head.

"There you go" she said.

"You look much better"

Ankoku turned around and smiled at her friend.

"Thanks Tsukiko" she said.

Tsukiko just shrugged.

"Hey, anything for a friend"

Just then, Roxas came up to the clock tower.

"Hey, sis" he said.

"How was your vacation?"

Ankoku smiled.

"It was good" she said.

She pointed towards her ribbon.

"Tsukiko got me a ribbon for my hair"

Roxas smiled.

"You look nice" he said.

Ankoku just smiled at him when he took a seat.

"So how was your time with Hayner and his friends?" Tsukiko asked.

Roxas shrugged.

"It was fine" he said.

"They let me join them in seeing how could hit a ball a certain amount of times before it hit the ground"

"That sounds" Ankoku said.

"Fancy meeting you here" someone said.

The group turned around to see Axel coming towards them.

"Well if it isn't sleeping beauty" Ankoku said.

Axel just took a seat next to Tsukiko.

"I slept like a log" he said.

The twins told them about their vacation.

Axel even complimented Ankoku on her ribbon.

"I have to say, you look really different with that in your hair" he said.

"You actually look like a girl"

A tick mark appeared on Ankoku's forehead.

"What's that suppose to mean?" she asked.

Axel just waved her off.

"Nothing, nothing" he said.

Just then, Xion joined the group.

"Hey guys" she said.

"How did I know you'd be here?"

She sat next to them.

Everyone got caught up and told each other about their missions.

The rest of the day was spent with laughter and smiles.

/

That night when Axel was heading up towards his room, he past Saix.

The blue haired elf glared at him.

"What took you?" he asked.

Axel glared back at him.

"It's my vacation" he said.

"I can take all the time I want. Since when do I have to check in with you?"

Saix simply stared him down.

"You're letting yourself get too attached to them" he warned.

Axel scoffed.

"Yes, Sir. Whatever you say" he said.

Saix glared at him before turning away.

"You've changed" he said.

He walked away and left Axel fuming.

The red head just glared at Saix's retreated form.

"No" he said.

"It's you whose changed"

/

Off in the outskirts of Twilight Town, tow lone figures stood in front of the mansions gates.

Namine and Diz had finally managed to move Sora and Hikari's pods from Castle Oblivion, and now they could continue with their work.

Namine looked at Diz.

"Do you know where they went?" she asked.

By 'they', she meant their other two companions.

Diz sighed.

"He's off doing some things for me" he said.

"And she's giving him a hard time as usual"

Namine nodded before looking at the mansion.

"I just hope this works" she said.

Diz scoffed.

"And if it doesn't" he said.

"I have other methods to use"

Namine bit her lip before following Diz into the abandoned mansion.

Twilight Town just got some new neighbors.

/

**A/N: I'm sure you know what's going to happen in the next chapter! And if you know about the two people that Namine and Diz were talking about, I'm sure you know who's going to show up next.**

**Now you all know how Ankoku got her trademark ribbon. If Hikari has one, then so does she.**

**If you want the next chapter to come soon, then you better review!**

**Ja ne**


	15. Silver Haired Stranger

Chapter 15: Silver Haired Stranger

**A/N: We're finally at the chapter you've all been waiting for! We get to finally see our favorite silver haired keyblade master. **

**How will Ankoku react when she finally meets the man she keeps seeing in her dreams?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

As the days went by, so did the missions.

The twins enjoyed their little vacation, but that was the only one they would ever get.

Saix made them work hard the next day.

Even though Ankoku complained, the elf would just ignore her and tell her to get back to work.

She knew that one of these days, she was going to seriously beat him to a bloody pulp.

/

_Day 149_

Ankoku woke up to the same dream.

It was always with that silver haired boy at Beast's Castle.

She and Xion were faced off with him and looked like they were about to fight.

She just groaned and got up for the day.

She tied part of her hair back with the blue ribbon Tsukiko got her and headed for the main room.

"I better have a very good mission today"

/

Saix had gathered all of the remaining members to the main room.

His usual cold face was grim as ever.

"I have just heard that an imposter has surfaced" he said.

"He is wearing one of our Organization's cloaks and destroying heartless"

He looked at the group.

"I have been given the order by Lord Xemnas that you are to destroy this imposter on sight"

Everyone started talking.

An imposter trying to act like he's was part of the Organization?

That was never heard of before.

Ankoku couldn't help but think back to that dream she kept having.

In the dream, the silver haired boy was wearing an Organization cloak.

Could this be the imposter?

She slowly raised her hand up.

Saix glared at her.

"What?" he hissed.

Ankoku just glared back at him.

She didn't need this.

"I think I know where the imposter is" she said.

"Lately, I've been having these dreams about a boy wearing the Organization's cloak. He was at Beast's Castle"

Saix gave her a cold stare.

"And you didn't bother to tell me this earlier?" he asked.

Ankoku just scoffed.

"If I knew that this was going to be an imposter, then I would have told you" she said.

"Just be thankful that I even found out where he's at"

Saix looked like he was about to smack her.

Her mouth was really getting to the best of him and it seemed like he wanted to hit her lately.

His just glared at her.

"Very well" he said.

"Since you were the one who found out where the imposter is, then it will be your job to take him out"

Ankoku gave him a grim look.

Now he was making her do the dirty work?

"_If I had my keyblade on me right now, I would shove it up his ass" _she thought.

Roxas looked worried at his sister.

He didn't want his sister to go by herself to finish off this imposter.

What if she lost?

Axel was the same way and stepped up to Saix.

"I don't know if sending her alone is such a good idea" he said.

"Do you really want to risk losing our only keyblade master who can predict the future?"

Saix gave him a cold stare.

"I'm not an idiot to let her go by herself" he said.

"Xion will be going with her. She's not as strong as Roxas, but I have him set for a mission"

Ankoku looked at Xion.

"Are you fine with that, Xion?" she asked.

Xion nodded.

"Yeah" she said.

Saix humped at them.

"Well, if you're all set, then get moving" he said.

"I will not stand having an imposter running around and ruining our plans"

Ankoku just glared at him then looked at Xion.

"Let's go"

She opened up a portal and let Xion go through.

Just as she was about to go herself, Roxas stopped her.

"Be safe, Sis" he said.

Ankoku just smiled at him.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine" she said.

She went through the portal and followed after Xion.

/

Beast's Castle was as dark as ever.

There was no moon to shine down on them as they stepped from the portal and appeared on the bridge to the castle.

Ankoku turned to Xion.

"Put your hood up" she said.

"We don't want this guy to remember our faces"

Xion nodded and pulled her hood up.

Ankoku did the same.

"Let's go" she said.

They walked down the bridge and got closer to Beast's Castle.

As they did, they spotted two figures standing at the end of the bridge.

One was a woman with long brown hair and wearing a white dress, the other was a man wearing an Organization cloak.

Ankoku and Xion summoned their keyblades.

"Who are you?" Ankoku demanded.

The woman looked surprised to see them and placed a hand on her partner's shoulder.

"It looks like we have some guests" she said.

The man nodded and pulled his hood back.

Long silver hair spilled over his shoulders as he pulled it out from being tucked in this cloak.

From what Ankoku could see, he had very pale skin and had his eyes covered by a black blind fold.

This was the man she kept seeing in her dreams.

Xion suddenly charged at the two.

Ankoku panicked.

She knew Xion was a mediocre fighter, so there was no way she could fight these two by herself.

"Don't Xion!" she cried.

But it was too late.

The man summoned up a blade that was shaped like a bat's wing and slammed it into Xion's side.

She fell over in a heap and had her keyblades slam into the ground.

The woman sighed as her partner dismissed his weapon.

"You didn't have to hit that hard" she scolded.

The boy just shrugged.

"You can never be sure" he said.

He walked over to Xion's body and flipped her over on her back.

He pulled her hood down and lifted his blindfold so he could see her face.

What he saw made him gasp.

He stood up and backed away from her.

"You're face" he said.

"Who are you really? And why do you have two keyblades?"

Xion pulled her hood back up and glared at him.

"Tell me first" she said.

"Why you are dressed as one of us"

The boy walked away from her and headed towards her keyblades.

"So my best friend…and the girl I love most…sleep in peace" he said.

He picked up Xion's keyblades and examined them.

"I don't know what you're supposed to be" he said.

"But…you can't fight fire with sparks"

The woman walked up next to him.

She studied the keyblades as well and sighed sadly.

"I'm sorry" she said.

"But these keyblades are fake. A sham"

The boy threw Xion's keyblades back to her.

Xion looked at her weapons.

Her hand dug into the ground.

"My keyblades aren't a sham!" she said.

She glared at the woman.

"What gives you the right to say that?"

She picked them up and charged at the woman.

The boy noticed this and hit her in the side before she could do anything to his comrade.

The woman sighed and looked at him.

"I could have taken care of it myself" she said.

The boy simply looked at her.

"It's not right for someone to hit a woman" he said.

Ankoku paled when she saw Xion hit the ground again.

She scolded herself for not doing anything in the first place.

She gripped her keyblade and charged at this mysterious boy.

"Xion!" she cried.

The boy turned to see her running towards her.

"Almost forgot about you" he said.

He summoned up his blade again and clashed swords with her.

Ankoku glared at him through her hood and predicted all of his moves.

They clashed swords with each other for a few minutes.

Ankoku wouldn't let up, knowing that they had to defeat this man.

If they let him live, then he would know that they could use the keyblade, and it would look bad for the Organization.

The woman couldn't watch any longer.

"Stop it, Riku!"

Ankoku faltered with her swing when she heard that name.

"_Riku?" _she thought.

Now that she got a closer look at her opponent, he looked just like the Riku that she saw in his dreams.

This was the same boy that was with the girl with the red ribbon.

Riku collided his Soul Eater with her side.

Ankoku's keyblade fell to the ground and she fell to her knees.

Riku placed his foot on her chest and pinned her to the ground.

"You're a real trouble maker, you know that?" he asked.

Taiyouko placed her hands on her hips when she got next to him.

"This is highly unnecessary" she said.

Riku just looked at her.

"We can't be too careful with these guys" he said.

Ankoku squirmed under his grip, but couldn't move.

She growled at him.

"You're going to pay when I get my hands on you" she said.

Riku just scoffed.

"We'll see about that" he said.

He knelt down and pulled her hood back to see her face.

Taiyouko gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Oh my god" she said.

Riku looked at her.

"What is it?"

Taiyouko pointed to Ankoku.

"Her face" she said in a shaky voice.

Riku looked back at Ankoku and pulled his blind fold off.

When he saw her face, he gasped and crawled away.

His face was deadly pale as he looked at her.

"No" he said in a shaky voice.

"It's not possible…she shouldn't have had one"

Ankoku glared at him and sat up.

She didn't bother to pull her hood back up since he saw her face.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"Is my face that hideous?"

Riku regained his composure and stood up.

He walked towards Taiyouko in case Ankoku tried to pull anything.

"What's your name?" he asked.

Ankoku scoffed at him as she stood up.

"Why would I tell you that?" she asked.

"We're enemies. You don't tell an enemy your name. Are you stupid or does that just come naturally?"

Riku growled at her.

"You sure don't act like your other self" he said.

"She's a lot nicer than you"

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

"She?" she asked.

Just then, rapid images of the girl came through her head.

She grabbed her head and fell to her knees.

"Ankoku!" Xion cried.

When the images died away, Ankoku looked at Riku.

She breathed heavily as her hands dropped to her side.

"I get it now" she said quietly.

"You're that boy she really loves"

With that, she blacked out.

Taiyouko sighed.

"Oh dear" she said.

Xion crawled over to Ankoku's body and knelt protectively.

She summoned her keyblades and pointed them at Riku and Taiyouko.

"If you're going to hurt her, you'll have to go through me" she said.

Riku looked at Taiyouko, who shook her head.

Riku looked back at her.

"Find a new crowd" he said.

"Trust me. Those guys are bad news" Taiyouko added.

With that, they started walking away.

Xion glared at Riku.

"Why?" she asked.

"You're the real sham"

Riku stopped walking and looked over his shoulder.

"Fair enough" he said.

"You could say I am…the biggest nobody of them all"

Taiyouko looked at him sadly and gripped his shoulder.

Riku just waved her off and started walking.

Taiyouko looked at Xion, then Ankoku's body.

A tear slid down her face before she caught up with Riku.

When they were gone, Xion let out a frustrated cry.

She looked at Ankoku's body.

"Ankoku" she said.

She summoned a portal and half carried, half dragged Ankoku's body through it.

/

Up at the clock tower, Axel and Roxas were eating ice cream.

They had just finished their missions and now they were cooling off.

Roxas kept looking to see if his sister and Xion would come, but he never saw anyone.

He wondered if their mission went ok.

Axel sighed.

"Relax, will ya?" he asked.

"I'm sure they're just resting up from their mission"

Roxas nodded.

"You're probably right" he said.

They went back to eating their ice cream, oblivious to what had happened.

/

Back in the castle, Xion had placed Ankoku on her bed.

She had to be very careful so Saix wouldn't see them.

If he found out that they had come back from their mission so early, he would rip then apart.

She looked at Ankoku as she slept.

She hadn't woken up since passing out at Beast's Castle.

Whatever that boy did or said to her, it really did a number on her.

She sat at the foot of the bed and curled herself into a ball.

All those things he said to her really affected her.

"Why did he say that?" she asked.

"My keyblades are not a sham, they're not"

She looked at Ankoku.

"You don't think they are…do you?"

Of course she got no response.

She never expected one.

She just curled up into an even tighter ball and stayed in her friends room for the night.

She didn't want to be alone.

She looked at her best friend as she slept.

She would never realize that she was having dreams about Riku and the girl that looked like her.

"I hope we never see them again" she said.

However, fate would somehow bring them back somehow.

/

**A/N: Yay! Riku and Taiyouko have shown up! Don't worry, we'll be seeing them again soon. I'm sorry if this chapter was short, but I wanted to add the suspense. **

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	16. You've got a friend in me

Chapter 16: You've got a friend in me

**A/N: Now we get to see the aftermath of Ankoku and Xion's fight with Riku. It's not going to be pretty when Saix finds out.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku and Xion.**

**Enjoy!**

/

When Ankoku woke up, she felt like she got hit in the head by something heavy.

She slowly sat up and saw Xion sleeping at the foot of her bed.

She raised an eyebrow.

"Xion?"

Xion woke up from the noise and looked at her.

"Morning Ankoku" she said.

Ankoku watched as she stretched all of the kinks from her back.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

Xion looked at her.

"I brought you here when you passed out on our mission" she said.

Memories of meeting Riku flashed through her head.

She had been seeing this same boy in her dreams and now she met him.

She gripped the side of her head.

If this was the same Riku, then he would know about the girl who looked just like her.

She looked at Xion.

"I can see why you brought me here" she said.

"But what I meant was why were you sleeping in my room?"

Xion looked at the floor sadly.

"I didn't…want to be left alone after what he said" she said.

She curled up into a ball.

"My keyblades are not a sham. Why did he have to say that?"

Ankoku looked at her sadly.

It seemed like she wasn't the only one affected by Riku's appearance.

She crawled to the foot of her bed and pulled Xion into a hug.

"Don't worry" she said.

"He just said those things to make himself feel important. You're keyblades aren't a sham"

Xion looked at her.

"What are we going to tell Saix?" she asked.

"You know failure is not an option with him"

Ankoku made a face.

She forgot about that.

When he found out that they failed on their mission, he was going to flip.

She sighed slowly and looked at her friend.

"We have to tell him" she said.

"He'll find out later anyway"

Xion slowly nodded.

Ankoku got up from her bed and held her hand out.

"Let's get this over with" she said.

"The sooner, the better"

Xion nodded and allowed Ankoku to help her off from the bed.

"Might as well face the music" she said.

They walked out of Ankoku's room and went to find Saix.

/

The blue elf glared at them darkly when they told him what happened.

"You did what?" he hissed.

Xion backed away and hid behind Ankoku.

Ankoku on the other hand, simply glared at him.

"You heard us" she said.

"The imposter was a lot stronger than we thought he would be"

Saix just glared at Ankoku.

"How is it, that you are able to see into the future, but you were not able to see how he fought?" he asked.

Ankoku just scoffed.

"Just because I can see into the future, doesn't mean I can see everything" she said.

As she was talking, Roxas and Axel came up.

They saw Ankoku arguing with Saix while Xion hid behind her.

"Please, give us another chance" Xion pleaded.

Saix glared at her.

"You've been given too many chances" he said.

"You were a mistake that should have never been made"

Xion looked hurt and hid farther behind Ankoku.

Ankoku looked furious at Saix.

How dare he say that to Xion?

"Hey! Don't be calling her names!" she cried.

"At least she does the work! I don't see you do anything except giving out orders. If you don't like how something is done, then get off your last ass and do it yourself!"

The next thing she knew, she was on her knees and grabbed her face.

Saix had just slapped her across the face and left a mark on her face.

When Axel and Roxas saw her hit the ground, they rushed over to her and stood protectively in front of her.

Roxas knelt next to her with Xion while Axel glared at Saix.

"That was totally uncalled for" he said.

Saix just glared back.

"She needs to learn to watch that mouth of hers" he said.

Ankoku couldn't believe that Saix had the nerve to hit her.

Her face hurt really badly from the force he put into that slap.

She glared at Saix and stood up quickly.

"I don't need this" she said.

She started walking away, but Roxas stopped her.

"Wait, Sis" he said.

"You can't go. We need to do our mission together"

Ankoku glared at him.

She had just got slapped in the face, and all he cared was about their mission?

"If our mission is so important to you, then you can do it by yourself!" she snapped.

Roxas looked hurt as she said that, but she didn't care.

Xion ran after her.

"Wait Ankoku!"

Axel glared at Saix when the two girls left.

"Now look what you've done" he said.

He walked past him and headed down the hallway.

There was no way he was going to allow Saix to get away for hitting one of his friends.

/

Ankoku opened up a portal when she was away from Saix.

She was on the verge of attacking him with her keyblade.

Just as she was about to step through the portal, Xion stopped her.

"Wait Ankoku!" she cried.

She stopped running when she got close to her.

Ankoku looked at her friend.

"What is it Xion?" she asked.

Xion looked at the red handprint that was on her friend's face.

She bit her lip.

"Where are you going?"

She thought that Ankoku was leaving the Organization for good because of what Saix did.

Ankoku just shrugged.

"Don't know" she said.

"I'll probably see what Tsukiko is doing. She's the only person who can calm me down when it comes to Saix"

Xion looked at the ground.

"Um…can I come with you?" she asked.

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

"What for?" she asked.

Xion looked at her.

"I don't want to be left alone with Saix" she said.

"Plus, I wanted to see if you were ok. That looked like it hurt"

Ankoku rubbed her face.

"It looks worse than it feels" she said.

She motioned for Xion to follow her.

"Come on. Let's go" she said.

Xion nodded and followed her through the portal.

/

Tsukiko was walking through the market place picking out things she would need to make dinner.

As she was placing a jar of tomato sauce in her basket, she heard two very familiar voices.

"Tsukiko!"

She turned around to see Ankoku and Xion walking towards her.

"Hey you guys" she said.

"Did you just get back from a mission?"

Xion laughed nervously.

"Um…not exactly" she said.

Tsukiko raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

Ankoku turned her head to the side to show the hand print on her face.

Tsukiko gasped.

"Who did this to you?" she asked.

Ankoku scoffed.

"Saix" she said darkly.

"I talked back at him for saying something to Xion and he just snapped.

Tsukiko gently touched her face.

"That looks like it hurts" she said.

"That was the reason we came here" Xion said.

"We just couldn't handle Saix and his temper"

Tsukiko nodded in understanding.

"All right" she said.

"You two come with me and you can talk it over. I'll make you something to eat in the process"

The two nobodies nodded as they followed her back to her place.

/

Ankoku had to admit, that Tsukiko had good taste when it came to decorating her apartment.

The whole place was painted with dark shades of blue and had yellow stars everywhere.

All of the trinkets she had decorated where different types of crescent moons.

Xion sat on the navy blue couch that was in the living room.

"You really do like moons" she said.

Tsukiko smiled as she came out of the kitchen.

"I guess you could say that" she said.

"My name does mean moon child, so I kind of went crazy when I decorated the place"

She placed three bowls of pasta on the coffee table.

"You shouldn't be eating just ice cream" she said.

"It'll rot your teeth. You need to eat something healthy once in a while"

The two girls sat near the coffee table and picked up their forks.

Ankoku took a bite of one of the noodles and found it to be very tasty.

"This is pretty good" she said.

Xion nodded as she poured some tomato sauce on hers.

Tsukiko smiled as she watched the two of them eat.

She pulled the hair tie out of her hair and let if fall to her shoulders.

Ankoku had to admit, she looked really pretty with it down.

"So, what happened that made Saix hit you?" Tsukiko asked.

The two nobodies slowly told her about their mission failing and how Ankoku pretty much told Saix off.

Tsukiko snickered when she heard what Ankoku said to the elf.

"You've got quite a mouth, I'll give you that" she said.

"But if it had been me, I would have slugged the guy"

Xion looked at her bowl sadly.

"But…maybe he's right" she said.

"What if I am a mistake?"

Tsukiko leaned over and gripped her hand.

"Don't say that" she said.

"You are not a mistake. Saix is just too blind to see how gifted you are. You're the only nobody in the Organization to wield two keyblades. You're the only one who can find the prettiest sea shells. You're not a mistake…you're one of a kind"

Xion looked touched by her words.

No one had ever said something like that to her.

"Thank you, Tsukiko" she said.

She looked back at the table.

"But…I just don't understand something" she said.

"My job is to collect hearts for Kingdom Hearts…Xemnas said that once we completed it, then we would get our hearts back. Kingdom Hearts has been up for a while…so why haven't we gotten our hearts yet?"

Now that she said that, Ankoku was wondering the same thing.

Everyone kept saying that they would get their hearts back once Kingdom Hearts was complete, so where were their hearts?

Was Xemnas hiding something from them?

Tsukiko sighed.

"Just thinking of a heart shaped moon makes me a little uneasy" she said.

"A moon shouldn't be shaped like that. It should be shaped like a crescent"

She picked up her moon necklace that was around her neck.

"You know what I like most about crescent moons?" she asked.

"Even though they're not whole, they still manage to look beautiful in the sky"

She let it drop back to her neck.

"I feel like just a crescent moon" she said.

"Even though I have a heart, I still don't feel whole. I feel like there's something missing to me"

She looked at Ankoku and Xion.

"I'm sure that's what it's like for you two" she said.

"You may have a body and are able to react to things, but you still know that there's something missing to you"

They both nodded.

Ever since Ankoku had those visions of that girl, she knew that there was something missing about her besides her heart.

Why did she keep seeing that girl?

And why was she dreaming about that boy, Riku?

Were the two of them connected to her somehow?

She just mulled over what the Organization's true motives were as she ate her pasta.

Tsukiko talked with them for the rest of the evening.

She listened to Ankoku when she told about her visions of Riku and that girl who looked liked her, while Xion talked about having similar dreams like her.

Ankoku was surprised when Xion said she had dreams about that same girl and also seeing a boy who looked liked Roxas.

"That is just too weird" Tsukiko said.

"The only way people could have the same dreams is in movies. That doesn't happen in real life"

Ankoku just snickered at Tsukiko's random thoughts.

As they were eating dessert, a portal opened up in the living room.

Ankoku and Xion summoned their keyblades, thinking it might have been Saix, but sighed when they saw it was just Axel.

The red head sighed when he saw the two of them sitting in his girlfriend's living room.

"Why am I not surprised to see you both here?" he asked.

Tsukiko smiled when she saw Axel.

"Hey, Axel" she said.

"We were just having some dinner and catching up"

Axel smirked at her.

"I can see that" he said.

He looked at his younger comrades.

"All right you two. I came here to bring you back to the Castle"

Ankoku made a face.

"I'm not going back to that castle with that angry elf" she snapped.

Axle placed his hands on his hips.

"Relax, will ya?" he asked.

"If it'll please you, Saix was punished by Xemnas. He didn't take learning that one of his precious keyblade wielders was hit"

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" she asked.

"What, like he hit him or something?"

Axel shrugged.

"I guess" he said.

Ankoku smirked darkly.

"I hope he got another scar on his face" she said.

Axel shrugged.

"Only one way to find out" he said.

Ankoku looked at Xion.

"We might as well head back" she said.

Xion nodded slowly.

"Yeah" she said.

Ankoku looked at Tsukiko.

"Thanks for everything, Tsukiko" she said.

Tsukiko nodded.

"If you ever have a situation like this again, feel free to come back here again. I'll take care of you"

She smiled at the two girls.

"We girls need to stick together"

Xion smiled.

"Right" she said.

She slowly got up from her seat and went over to Axel and Ankoku.

"I guess it's time to go back" she said.

Axel stepped back and let them go through the portal.

"Ladies first" he said.

They both slowly went through the portal and left Axel alone in Tsukiko's apartment.

The red head smiled softly at his girlfriend.

"Thanks for that" he said.

Tsukiko waved him off.

"Somebody needs to look after them" she said.

"Just make sure nothing happens to them"

Axel nodded.

"They'll be safe when I'm around" he said.

Tsukiko smiled and pecked him on the cheek.

"That's all I ask" she said.

With that, Axel went through the portal and headed back to the castle.

/

Back in her room, Ankoku sat by her desk and looked through her journal.

It had been a while since she wrote in it.

She used to write about her days in the Organization, but lately, she started writing about the dreams she had about the girl how looked like her.

"I don't know why I keep seeing her" she said.

"But it just seems like she's going to be very important to me later on in life"

She placed her journal away and went to bed.

The last thing she thought before she went to sleep, was making sure to apologize to Roxas.

/

**A/N: It's nice to know that they have Tsukiko to lean to when they have to deal with Saix like that.**

**It's like Tsukiko said: 'girls need to stick together' **

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	17. In dire needs

Chapter 17: In dire needs

**A/N: Now that Saix has been punished for hurting Ankoku, I wonder what the keyblade mistress will do next?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

After that little incident with Saix, Ankoku apologized to Roxas for what she said to him.

She knew it wasn't his fault and that she shouldn't have lashed out at him like that.

The twins were on better terms with each other, and were closer than ever.

Xion even became closer to Ankoku.

After being chewed up by that one mission, the two girls were always seen with each other.

Even thought Xemnas punished Saix for hitting Ankoku, that didn't mean he couldn't hit Xion.

Ankoku was like a mother tiger protecting her cub when it came to her friend.

Whenever things became too stressful at the castle, they would sneak over to Tsukiko's apartment and spend the rest of their day with her.

Even Roxas came with on a few occasions and enjoyed the woman's cooking.

They all became really close with each other, although they all had their moments.

Xion would lash out for no apparent reasons and wondered what their purpose in the Organization was.

Ankoku was the same.

She wondered why she was here, and why she had a keyblade.

Every time she had a question, it would be left unanswered.

This was just the beginning of turmoil that she and Roxas were about to face.

/

_Day 172_

That morning, Roxas and Ankoku woke up to be greeted by Luxord.

Ankoku learned the hard way that the man was mastermind when it came to gambling.

No one could beat him, not even her with her sightseeing powers.

The platinum blonde looked at the twins when they came into the room.

"How has the game been treating you?" he asked them.

Ankoku gave him a dull look.

That was his way of saying 'good morning' to everyone.

"_Lame line" _she thought.

"It's fine, I guess" Roxas said.

Luxord shuffled the deck of cards in his hand.

"Saix shuffled us together for today's mission" he said.

"I wager we'll make a good enough team"

Ankoku rolled her eyes.

Of course Saix would pair her up with the gambling man.

Even though Xemnas punished him for laying a finger on her, he gave her sucky missions as revenge.

Luxord smiled.

"Oh, by the way, did you hear about what happened to Xion?" he asked.

That caught the twin's attention.

"No, what?" Roxas asked.

Luxord shrugged.

"She bungled her last mission and has been in a deep sleep ever since" he said.

"Can't win them all, I suppose"

Ankoku paled.

Xion passed out on her mission?

That wasn't good.

What if she was hurt?

She went to go run to Xion's room, but Saix stopped her.

His usual glare was extra cold towards her.

He still had a mark from where Xemnas hit him with his eternal blades.

"And where do you think you're going, Ankoku?" he asked.

Ankoku glared back at him.

She didn't have time for this.

"To see Xion" she said.

Saix just glared at her.

"But you have a mission" he pointed out.

"Which I'll do" Ankoku growled back.

Where missions the only thing that went through his mind?

"You cannot help your comrade" Saix said.

"Xion will not wake up"

Ankoku balled her hands into fists.

"That's not the point!" she snapped.

"I should still be with her"

She started to walk past him.

Saix just scoffed.

"What do you care?" he asked.

"The creature is broken. Defective"

Ankoku whipped around.

He did not just call Xion that?

Roxas was appalled too.

"Don't call her that!" he said.

Saix just looked at him.

"I'll call that thing whatever I want" he said.

"How we deal with Xion is no concern of yours"

Ankoku ground her teeth together.

"We didn't ask you if it was!" she snapped.

Saix shook his head.

"Look at you two" he said.

"Up in arms over a nobody"

"We're all nobodies!" Roxas said.

Saix looked at him.

"Settle down" he warned.

"Xion's falling won't affect your standings with us. You've nothing to worry about"

Ankoku shook her head in disgust.

How could he say all of that with a straight face?

What was wrong with him?

"Won't affect our- what's WRONG with you?" she asked.

Roxas nodded.

"Look. We'll do our mission-later"

The twins ran out of the room and went to see their fallen friend.

/

Xion was fast asleep on her bed when the twins came in.

She looked so peaceful as she dreamt of things that played through her head.

Roxas and Ankoku looked at her sadly.

It was hard seeing their friend like this.

This is what is must have been like when she watched them when they were passed out.

"Xion" Ankoku said quietly.

Roxas pulled something from his pocket and placed it on Xion's bed.

"Get well" he said.

Ankoku saw that it was a sea shell.

She smiled softly.

"Hope you're dreaming of something nice" she said.

They left her room and went to finish their mission.

/

After their mission with Luxord, the two of them sat in their usual spot at the clock tower and ate their ice cream.

Axel came over a few minutes later and sat with them.

Roxas looked at him.

"Axel, about Xion…" he said.

Axel waved him off.

"Saix told me what happened this morning" he said.

Ankoku looked at him.

"Why does he hate her so much?" she asked.

She could understand Saix hating her, but Xion didn't do anything to him.

Axel looked at her.

"Listen to you" he said.

"How come you both do that? Talk like you're real people"

Roxas looked at him.

"Why? What did she say?" he asked.

"We don't know how real people talk"

Axel looked at them.

"I mean, sometimes you both sound like you really are heartsick or something" he said.

Ankoku looked up at the sky.

"When we saw her lying there…we thought that she might not wake up" she said.

Axel just looked at her.

"She will" he said.

Roxas looked at the ground.

"Saix called her 'broken'" he said.

Axel looked out at the sky.

"Well, if it cheers you guys up, I'm probably more broken than her" he said.

The twins looked at him.

Ankoku looked at the sky.

"Saix knows something about her" she said.

"Why Roxas, Xion and I are all special nobodies"

Axel rubbed his head.

"Well…" he said.

"If it's gonna keep you both up all night, I could ask him for you"

Ankoku looked at him.

"Really?" she asked.

Axel nodded.

"Yes, really" he said.

"I'll ask, but don't get your hopes up. Straight answers aren't really his specialty"

"He's more likely to tell you than he is us" Roxas said.

Axel shrugged.

"True" he said.

Ankoku looked at the sunset.

"I just hope she wakes up soon" she said.

/

That night, Axel talked with Saix.

The red head glared at him when Saix said something.

"Hey, that was uncalled for!" he snapped.

Saix just looked at him coldly.

"I warned you to keep out of this" he said.

Axel balled up his fists.

"And I told you I can't" he said.

"I have to know what Xion's deal is. Why can't you be straight with me for once?"

Saix looked at him.

"Just like you're always honest with me?" he asked.

Axel ran a hand through his hair.

"Ok, you've got me there" he said.

"Xion has no right to be among our number" Saix said.

Axel raised an eyebrow.

"Why not?" he asked.

Saix turned away.

"What is it you three see in that thing?" he asked.

"Just look at it"

With that, he walked away and left the red head be.

/

The next day, Roxas and Ankoku went to Axel.

"Find out anything about Xion?" Roxas asked.

Axel rubbed his head.

"I talked to Saix" he said.

Roxas's face lit up.

"Really? What did he say?" he asked.

Axel just sighed.

"His…lips are sealed" he said.

"Sorry, but I tired"

Roxas looked at the ground.

"That's ok" he said.

Axel gave them a lop sided grin.

"But he did say that he would take back calling her broken-IF she proves herself more capable going forward" he said.

"The best thing you can do for her now is keep up the good work"

Roxas nodded.

"We will" he said.

"Thanks, Axel. That's great news"

Ankoku didn't say anything the whole time.

Even though Axel said he could get any info out of Saix, his eyes told a different story.

"_He's hiding something" _she thought.

She was going to let it slide for now.

She didn't want to ruin Roxas's good mood.

When they left for their mission, Axel sighed.

"Sorry you guys" he said.

/

_Day 193_

_Hikari stabbed her keyblade into Riku's chest to set his heart free._

_However, she got her heart stabbed by his keyblade in the process._

_She gave him a weak smile before her heart was taken from her._

_Sora did a similar thing as well by setting his heart free and waking the girl he cared most up._

_Both of them disappeared in particles of light._

_The last thing that was heard were two names._

_Hikari…Sora…_

/

Xion woke with a start and quickly sat up in her bed.

Roxas and Ankoku jumped when they saw Xion awake.

"Whoa!" Roxas cried.

Ankoku just waved at her.

"Morning, Xion" she said.

Xion looked surprised.

"Morning" she said.

Roxas rubbed his head.

"You startled us" he said.

Xion smiled nervously.

"S-sorry" she said.

She looked to the side of her bed to see a bunch of sea shells next to her pillow.

"You brought me sea shells" she said.

Ankoku nodded.

"We got you one for each day you were a sleep" she said.

Xion looked at them.

"How long was I asleep?" she asked.

"About twenty days" Roxas said.

Xion's eyes bugged out.

"That long?" she cried.

Ankoku nodded.

"Yeah" she said.

"We were starting to get worried"

Xion looked to the floor.

"I'm sorry" she said.

"I feel bad"

She chuckled a little.

"Kind of…weird that we can feel anything at all, huh?" she asked.

"Without hearts to feel with"

Roxas looked at the ground.

"Yeah" he said.

Xion looked at them.

"Hey, don't you have work?" she asked.

Ankoku nodded.

"We were about to head out" she said.

"Can I come too?" Xion asked.

Roxas looked concerned.

"But…don't you need more rest?" he asked.

Xion smiled.

"After sleeping for three weeks?" she asked.

"I'll be fine. C'mon, take me with you"

Ankoku smiled.

"Alright" she said.

/

They headed for the main room to head out for their mission.

When they were about to open a portal, Saix appeared.

Roxas and Ankoku immediately stood in front of Xion.

Saix just looked at her.

"Well, well, it lives" he said.

"There's just no keeping you down"

Ankoku glared at him.

"I could say the same thing about you" she snapped.

Xion peered over Ankoku's shoulder.

"Saix, I want to go with Roxas and Ankoku today on their mission" she said.

Saix shook his head.

"You belong in your room" he said.

Axel suddenly appeared next to them.

"Oh hey, Xion!" he said.

"About time you crawled out of bed:

Xion smiled at him.

"Morning Axel" she said.

Saix cleared his throat.

"Roxas and Ankoku will team up with Axel today, as scheduled" he said.

"Xion, I'm afraid I neglected to pencil you in"

Xion glared at him.

"Don't keep me pent up in here" she said.

"I need the exercise"

Axel shrugged.

"I'll look after her" he said.

"I promise to never let her out of my sight"

Saix just looked away.

"Fine" he said.

He walked away and left them alone.

/

They appeared in the alley way of Twilight Town.

Xion looked at the group.

"This should be fun" she said.

Roxas nodded.

"Yeah, I think this is my first four-man mission" he said.

"Just remember that it's still a mission" Axel said.

"We're not on a field trip, guys"

Everyone nodded.

They headed out of the allies to find one of their targets for the day.

/

They found their first heartless in the sandlot.

Since it was one of the saber kind of heartless, they proved to be tricky.

But since it was four against one, that made it easier for them.

They were able to finish it in a matter of minutes.

"Only one left to go" Ankoku said.

She used her powers to find out where the next one would be and spotted it at the clock tower.

They headed towards that direction.

/

When they got there, Xion suddenly passed out.

The group panicked when they saw her on the ground.

"Xion!" Roxas cried.

Memories of Sora and Hikari flashed through Xion's head.

All of them dealt with the two keyblade masters and a girl who looked just like her, but had maroon hair.

Axel picker her up.

"Looks like she drained herself out" he said.

Just then, the heartless they were after appeared.

Roxas and Ankoku summoned their blades.

"We'll take care of this" Ankoku said.

Axel nodded and took Xion somewhere safe.

Roxas looked at his twin.

"Let's do this" he said.

They launched themselves at the destroyer heartless and smashed their keyblades in its face.

They had to jump out of the way every now and then when it would shoot its laser at them.

After a while, they manage to take it down and fulfill their mission.

They both ran towards Axel and Xion.

Xion groaned softly.

"Sora…Hikari…" she said quietly.

Axel bit his lip.

That wasn't good.

Ankoku looked at her friend.

"Is she ok?" she asked.

Axel nodded.

"She's fine" he said.

"She didn't get hurt"

Roxas sighed with relief.

Axel picked her up and stood.

"Let's head back" he said.

The twins nodded and followed him through the portal.

/

As they were walking through the castle, Saix was waiting for them.

The elf looked at Xion.

"Well, that didn't take long" he said.

"Did it break again?"

Ankoku glared at him.

"She's not an 'it'!" she snapped.

Axel simply walked past him and glared at him from the corner of his eye.

"Shut your mouth" he hissed.

He walked away with Roxas and Ankoku tailing behind him.

Saix just stood as they walked away...

"You have changed…" he said.

"Something in Castle Oblivion changed you. Does the past mean nothing to you now?"

/

The three of them watched as Xion slept.

Roxas looked at her.

"Are you worried about her, Axel?" he asked.

The red head nodded.

"Of course I am" he said.

Ankoku chuckled a little.

"Doesn't seem like you" she said.

Axel looked at her.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Ankoku looked at him.

"You hate complications" she said.

Axel sighed.

"Ankoku" he said.

"I meet up with you three every day for ice cream, right? Why do I do that?"

The twins looked at him.

"Huh?"

Axel smirked.

"I mean, think about it" he said.

"I don't need to go out of my way, right?"

Roxas rubbed his head.

"I guess not" he said.

"You wanna know why I do?" Axel asked.

"Because you're my best friends. The four of us…we're inseparable"

Roxas tilted his head.

"We are?" he asked.

Axel nodded.

"That's right- got it memorized?" he asked.

"And you know what? Best friends are willing to deal with complications"

Ankoku smiled.

"Yeah, you said it" she said.

Xion could be heard giggling.

She sat up and looked at them.

"Thanks Axel" she said.

"You're sweet"

Axel just looked away embarrassed.

Roxas looked at Xion.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

Xion nodded.

"I just got a little dizzy" she said.

"Sorry for worrying you guys"

"Try not to scare us like that anymore, huh?" Ankoku asked.

Xion nodded.

"And try to take it easy" Axel added.

Xion nodded.

/

That night, Ankoku went to sleep without any trouble.

She had another dream about that girl, only this time, she was hanging out with another girl.

She looked just like Xion, only she had maroon colored hair.

The two girls were smiling as they ran down the beach.

Ankoku groaned and turned over on her side.

"Kairi?..." she said quietly.

/

Back in the Mansion in Twilight Town, Namine was sitting in a white room, drawing one of her latest pictures.

It depicted Roxas and Ankoku standing with Xion and Axel.

As she was drawing, she sighed deeply.

When she drew Xion, she couldn't help but feel troubled by the sight of the nobody.

She placed her sketchbook on the table in front of her and closed it shut.

"She is going to make things a lot harder for me" she said quietly.

/

**A/N: Uh-oh, looks like Xion is starting to remember Sora and Hikari. That can't be good. And it seems like Ankoku remembered Kairi.**

**We also get to see Riku and Taiyouko in the next chapter!**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	18. What they were doing all this time

Chapter 18: What they were doing all this time

**A/N: Hey everyone! Like I promised, this chapter will be all about Riku and Taiyouko. I'm sure you're wondering what they have been doing all this time while Roxas and Ankoku were collecting hearts. Well, now you'll find out.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku, Tsukiko and Taiyouko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

_Day 224_

Namine stood in front of Sora and Hikari's pods.

Since they fell asleep in Castle Oblivion, she had been piecing their memories back together little by little.

Hikari's was harder, since Namine had to search for her missing memories.

But she never complained.

She made a promise to her, and she was going to keep it.

It was a slow process, but it was worth it.

However, lately it seemed like the memories were leaking out of Sora and Hikari's hearts, and were filtering into someone else's.

As she was looking at them, Diz came up to her.

"You seem to be struggling" he said.

He too had noticed the memory process was slowing down.

This did not settle well with him at all.

He needed the keyblade masters to be awakened soon if he wanted his plans fulfilled.

Namine looked at the pods.

"A nobody is interfering, I think" she said.

Diz looked at the pods.

"A nobody?" he asked.

Namine nodded.

"I keep trying to piece their memories back together, but what if some of the pieces got lost?" she asked.

"There would be no way for me to finish. If that happened-and they found their way into someone else-they'd never get them back"

Diz just shook his head.

"Oh, I think they could do without a memory or two" he said.

"Especially Hikari"

Namine looked at him.

"But what if they need those memories in order to wake up?" she asked.

"What if they're the key?"

Diz sighed.

"Namine" he said.

"You are a witch with powers over Sora and Hikari's memories and those connected to them. Are you seeing something that I cannot?"

Namine looked back at the pods.

"If their memories become her memories…" she said.

"She will never survive it"

Diz looked at her.

"She?" he asked.

He would soon learn that it was Xion that Namine was talking about.

/

_Day 225_

Riku woke up with a start and shot up from his bed.

He breathed heavily as he tried to shake away the dreams he had just witnessed.

He grabbed his head.

"Another dream about her" he said quietly.

Even though it had been a few months, he was still shaken over the thought that Hikari had a nobody.

He thought that since she was a princess of heart, then she wouldn't have one.

But since that day, he kept seeing the girl who looked like the one he loved most.

He sighed and got out of bed.

"Great way to start the day" he said sarcastically.

He fixed the blindfold that covered his eyes and walked out of his room.

He had been staying in the mansion since Namine brought Sora and Hikari here.

He wanted to be close to them in case anything happened.

He said he would do anything to help them wake up, and that's what he planned to do.

He slowly made his way down the stairs and headed for the room where Hikari was resting.

Diz made a secret room underneath the library, so in case someone came, no one would know about them.

He entered the room where Hikari's pod was and walked up to it.

Every day, he would visit her pod to see how she was doing.

He would tell her the events he went through each day and how Taiyouko would drive her insane.

It was his way of knowing that one day she would wake up.

He would do the dame for Sora, but he would spend a bit longer with Hikari.

He placed his hand on the pod and looked at the smooth surface.

He always felt calm when he was near her.

He smiled softly.

"Hey Hikari" he said.

"I'm sorry I haven't seen you in a while. Diz has been keeping me busy, and I need to keep an eye on your mom"

He chuckled slightly.

"You won't believe what she got me into last week when we were in town"

_Flashback_

_Taiyouko tugged Riku along the streets of Twilight Town._

"_Come on, Riku!" she whined._

"_Don't be a party pooper"_

_Riku kept resisting as she dragged him to the market place._

_She kept insisting that he needed to stay out of the mansion, and that shopping would cure him of that._

"_Taiyouko" he sighed._

"_I've told you hundreds of times that boys do not shop. It's not in our genes"_

_Taiyouko looked at him._

"_And I keep telling you that you need to expand your horizons" she said._

"_Sword practicing and slaying heartless are good, but you need to do more than just that. Add some flavor to your life"_

_Riku shuddered._

"_You're version of flavor is scary to me" he muttered._

_Taiyouko had a creepy grin on her face as she gripped his tightly._

"_What did you say?" she asked sweetly._

_Riku gulped when he felt a dark aura coming off of her._

"_Nothing" he said in a quiet high pitched voice._

_Taiyouko let go of his face._

"_That's what I thought" she said._

_Riku sighed quietly when she looked away._

_He had to admit, she was the person he feared the most._

_Sure, Ansem got to him every now and then._

_But Taiyouko made him look like a pussy cat._

_She could be a sweet and caring mother figure one minute, and then she could turn into a crazy sorceress the next._

_He still had bruises for when he got her angry last time._

_Taiyouko spotted a store up ahead and squealed._

"_Riku! Let's go to this shop!"_

_She dragged him to the store and started looking around._

_When he stepped in, he scrunched his nose up._

_He may have been wearing a blindfold, but he knew from the smell that they were in a perfume shop._

_He covered his face with his hand and sought out his partner._

"_Taiyouko" he said._

"_Dragging me through girly stores is one thing, but taking me to a perfume joint as another. Men do not smell perfume"_

_Taiyouko just gave him a goofy grin and sprayed a bottle at him._

_Riku coughed when the smell got in his nose._

_Taiyouko laughed at him._

"_You're so funny" she said._

_Riku glared at him through his blindfold and followed her to the cash register._

_As Taiyouko's purchases were being paid, the casher smiled at him._

"_Is this your son?" she asked Taiyouko._

_Riku's face went red._

_There was no way he was going to let people think that his girlfriend's mom was his mom._

_That wasn't right._

_Taiyouko saw him blushing and decided to take it to a whole new level._

"_Why yes he is" Taiyouko said._

_Riku whipped his head at her._

"_What?" he asked._

_Taiyouko giggled and wrapped an arm around him._

"_He can be such a momma's boy" She said._

"_He follows me around like a baby chick following his momma. It's just so heartwarming"_

_The casher chuckled._

"_What a sweet son" she said._

_Taiyouko nodded._

"_I know. He can be a handful, but I love my little Riku so much"_

_As she said this, she rubbed her face against his._

_Riku's face became so red that he pulled the hood to his cloak over his face and tugged the drawstrings tightly._

_Taiyouko chuckled._

"_He can be shy sometimes" she said._

_She took her purchases and tugged on Riku's arm._

"_Come on honey" she joked._

"_Now we have to go to the lingerie store"_

_Riku was screaming as Taiyouko dragged him by the back of his hood to the store._

/

Riku shuddered as he remembered that.

"As much as I respect your mom, she can be really scary. But at least she keeps me on my feet" he said.

He watched as Hikari slept.

"I'm sure you would have laughed at it" he said.

He sighed.

"I wish you were awake right now" he said.

He pressed his forehead against the glass.

He stayed like this for a while.

When he felt someone's hand land on his shoulder, he looked up.

He could tell right off the bat that it was Taiyouko.

He could recognize her scent of light a mile away.

Taiyouko looked at him sadly.

"Another bad dream, huh?"

Whenever he had a nightmare, she would find him standing next to Hikari's pod.

Riku nodded.

"It was about her again" he said.

Taiyouko knew who he meant when he said 'her'.

He meant Ankoku.

He let out a shaky sigh.

"I just don't get it" he said.

"How was she able to get a nobody when she's a princess of light? Nobodies are made from the darkness in people's hearts. But a princess of light isn't supposed to have that. So why…"

He hung his head.

Taiyouko gripped his shoulder.

She knew that he blamed himself for letting this happen.

"I told you before" she said.

"There is darkness in every heart, even a princess of light. There may not be much of it, but it's still there"

She looked at her daughter who was still sleeping.

"That nobody we saw- she was made the same way as Namine was" she said.

"While she's Kairi's nobody, she was made from Sora's darkness"

Riku didn't need to think hard on how that happened.

When Sora freed his heart to give Kairi's heart back, the darkness in his heart created Namine.

It also occurred to him that Hikari went through a similar situation.

When she went to free his heart, she lost her heart in the process.

She became a heartless because of the darkness that seeped into her heart-his darkness.

"So I was the one who created that nobody" he said.

He pressed his head against the pod.

"And because of that…this makes things more complicated"

Taiyouko bit her lip as she watched her comrade suffer.

She noticed that he had a tendency to blame everything on himself when it dealt with Hikari.

'_If it wasn't for me, none of this would have happened" _he would say.

It tore her heart up to see this boy suffer.

She envied Hikari for falling in love with such a sweet boy.

He was willing to blame everything and take any type of punishment if it meant that Hikari would wake up.

Not a lot of men would do that now a days.

She simply couldn't see him be upset like this.

"Come on" she said.

"Let's go out for a bit"

Riku looked at her.

"I'm not going on one of your shopping sprees" he said.

Taiyouko chuckled a little.

"Don't worry, there's no shopping involved" she said.

She steered him out of the room and lead him outside.

/

Riku sat on the fence that covered sunset hill.

He had to admit, that this place was nice.

It wasn't as busy as the other areas were, and it gave off this relaxing felling to it.

Taiyouko sat next to him and held out an ice cream cone.

"Here" she said.

"You look like you could use something sweet"

Riku took the ice cream cone from her and took a taste from it.

He didn't know what flavor he got until he tasted it.

"Chocolate?" he asked.

Taiyouko shrugged.

"You looked like a chocolate lover" she said.

She took a like from her vanilla cone.

Riku smirked slightly before going back to his ice cream.

As he ate, he unzipped his jacket slightly and held out Hikari's pendant.

He had kept her good luck charm close to him since she gave it to him.

It was the only part of her that he kept with her at all times.

Taiyouko would sleep within it every now and then when she felt weak.

But it symbolized his connection with the one he loved most.

Taiyouko suddenly wiped the corner of his mouth with her thumb.

"You got some on your face" she said.

She cleaned his face off before she caught herself.

She laughed nervously.

"Sorry" she said.

"I guess my motherly instincts got the best of me again"

Riku shook his head.

This wasn't the first time that she babied him like this.

Every now and then, she would treat him like a child and took care of him.

He didn't mind really.

He knew that she just wanted to feel useful and felt that since he was still a teenager, that he needed a parental figure in his life.

Taiyouko sighed as she looked at the sky.

"Do you know why I love being a mom so much?" she asked.

Riku looked at her.

"Why?" he asked.

Taiyouko smiled sadly.

"Because I felt like I was wanted for once" she said quietly.

She looked at him.

"I told you once before that no one wants to be near a sorceress. People may praise us for our powers, but they still fear us and try to stay away. Sorceresses are usually left alone, never to be bothered. We get use to the loneliness, but deep down, we long for the feeling of being wanted. I was no stranger to that kind of feeling"

She smiled softly.

"But when I had kids… it was like a dream come true" she said.

"For once, I had souls that wanted me and depended on me. I was their protection; I was their source of comfort. I was everything to them. They were the greatest beings that I created. I loved being hugged by my son and daughter and hearing them say they loved me. It was everything that I could ask for"

Her smile vanished.

"But when Ansem attacked my world, that dream came apart" she said.

"I sealed my heart in Hikari's pendant so I could protect her, and I was separated from my children. Even though I could see everything that she was doing…I still couldn't hold her. I couldn't pick her up when she fell or hug her when she had a bad dream of comfort her when she was afraid of the dark. It was agonizing. Even when I was able to be free from it, I still couldn't hold her. All I can do is watch her as she sleeps and hope that the next day she will wake up"

She gave Riku an apologetic smile.

"I'm talking too much, aren't I?" she said.

"I guess I don't know when to keep my mouth shut"

She went back to eating her ice cream.

Riku simply looked at her.

It didn't occur to him until now that she was suffering as much as he was, maybe even more.

She had to watch her only daughter sleep while her memory was being restored.

She had to watch day after day while she couldn't do anything to make the process go faster.

This was like a living nightmare.

The only escape from it was her pampering Riku and treating him like he was her own.

He bit his lip.

If he was her only salvation right now, then he would grunge and bear with it.

He ate his ice cream and got some on the corner of his mouth.

"You missed a spot" he said.

Taiyouko looked at him and smiled sweetly at him.

"Thank you" she said.

She cleaned the ice cream off and brushed his silver hair behind his ear.

Riku smiled softly.

When they finished their ice cream, they headed back for the mansion.

As they were walking, Riku spoke out.

"Me too" he said.

Taiyouko stopped walking and looked at him.

"What?" she asked.

Riku dug his hands into his pockets.

"Me too" he repeated.

"I miss that feeling too with my parents"

He looked at the ground.

"I miss being hugged by my mom and being told stories by my dad" he said.

"I miss being treated like their greatest treasure. But I thought that teenagers shouldn't be coddled like that. I thought that was something only babies do. But…after everything that's happened…I really wish I could see my parents and be hugged by them. I want to feel like I'm still important to them"

Taiyouko smiled sadly.

"Riku" she said.

She went up to him and hugged him tightly.

"You can still get that feeling now" she said.

"I may not be your mom, but I can be a substitute. It's like I said before. We're in this together, so we should depend on each other"

Riku returned the hug equally.

He didn't realized how much he needed that until now.

"Thank you" he said quietly.

Taiyouko smiled.

"I'll try not to embarrass you too much on our outings" she said.

Riku chuckled.

"As long as you don't drag me to a lingerie store again, then we're good"

Taiyouko laughed.

"Deal" she said.

They slowly walked back to the mansion and tried to enjoy each other's company as best as they could.

/

When Taiyouko said goodnight to Riku, she headed towards her room.

She was greatful that he was putting up with her coddling.

He really was a sweet boy.

As she near her room, she pasted Diz.

A scowl appeared on her face as she looked at the mysterious man.

Even though she agreed to help him, she still hated him.

Everything about him with the way he spoke to the way he carried himself ticked her off.

Diz simply looked at her with his one eye.

"You're coddling that boy too much" he said.

Taiyouko scoffed.

"I don't need you to tell me how I should take care of Riku" she hissed.

"Why don't you leave him to me and focus and waking Sora and Hikari up"

She started to walk past him, but he stopped her.

"Babying him won't do him any good for the battles that are about to come" he warned.

Taiyouko glared at him.

"You mean battles that you started?" she asked.

"If it wasn't for you, none of this would have happened. I don't know why Riku trusts you, but I don't"

Diz scoffed.

"Oh, and you believe that he trusts you?" he asked.

"Of course" Taiyouko said.

"I'm the only friendly face that he sees around here. He always comes to me when he has a problem. He trusts me with his life"

Diz studied her.

"If he trusts you so much, then he must know about your part in everything that has happened" he said.

Taiyouko's face paled.

"That's right" Diz said.

"You may seem innocent, but you're as guilty as I am when it deals with the heartless. Your connection runs as deep as mine with them. Even a sorceress of light has a few skeletons in the closet"

Taiyouko glared at him.

"How dare he bring up the past like that?

She would rather forget that time in her life than remember it.

She gave him an icy stare.

"You're right" she said.

"I do have few skeletons in my closet. But not nearly as much as you have in yours…father"

With that, she stormed past him and went into her room.

Diz sighed and shook his head.

"She still acts like her mother" he said.

/

**A/N: So now you all know Taiyouko's connection with Diz: he's her father. And it looks like they don't have a good father/daughter relationship. **

**What did he mean by her connection with the heartless? Did she play a part in their creation?**

**I hope you didn't mind the little moment with Riku and Taiyouko.**

**I just wanted to show that even they need each other with moments like these.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	19. Why the sun sets red

Chapter 19: Why the sun sets red

**A/N: I bet you all liked that little surprised at the end of the last chapter. Don't worry, there's more to come in the next story. Speaking of which, we're almost near the end of this one. We'll get so see Hikari soon.**

**Sorry if this chapter is short, but it leads to the main plot for the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Ever since Xion woke up, Ankoku noticed that she had been acting a little strange.

While she appeared to be normal, her aura just wasn't normal.

She noticed that she tended to lass out a bit more than usual for no particular reason.

And she kept talking about two individuals that she saw in her dreams.

She also heard from the higher ups that she snuck into the castle's computer room and was looking through classified files.

She didn't know what was going on with her friend, but she knew it couldn't be good.

Axel wasn't any help with this either.

He claimed that Saix wasn't telling him anything, but she could tell by the look in his eyes that he knew something.

Why was he keeping things from her and Roxas?

Weren't they best friends?

It seemed like the four of them were slowly breaking apart.

Xion was losing it.

Axel was keeping things.

Roxas was more quiet than usual.

And Ankoku was having more dreams about that girl who looked like her more than usual.

She didn't know why she kept seeing her, but she got the sense that she wanted to meet her.

It was like her instincts were saying that she had to see this girl and she had to see her soon.

She rubbed her head.

"This is insane" she said.

"I don't even know her name"

She just went on her mission and let her objectives fill her mind at the moment.

/

_Day 255_

Roxas and Ankoku were sitting in their usual spots at the clock tower.

They had a very long mission and they needed to wind down.

Ankoku closed her eyes as the wind blew through her hair.

She sighed contently as the breeze cooled her off.

Roxas chuckled as he watched his sister.

"You're so weird, Sis" he said.

Ankoku gave him a look and stuck out her tongue.

"Hey, I had a rough night and a long mission today" she said.

"I need this"

Roxas looked at her.

"Did you have another one of those dreams?" he asked.

Ankoku had told him that she was having strange dreams, but she only told him the minor details of them.

She didn't want her brother to be pondering over useless stuff.

She sighed.

"Yeah, you could say that" she said.

Roxas looked at the sunset.

"Me too" he said.

"Lately, I've been having this dream about a boy who looks just like me. The only difference is that he has brown spiky hair and he's wearing red. Weird, isn't it?"

Ankoku paled.

She remembered Xion saying she had similar dreams like that.

Heck, she recalled having a dream with that boy in it.

What did this mean?

There was no way that three people could have the same dreams.

It just wasn't possible.

She simply kept quiet and just enjoyed the sunset.

But the silence was broken when a familiar red head showed up.

"You're both early" Axel said.

Roxas just chuckled at him.

"No, you're just late" he said.

Axel sat in his regular seat and handed them some ice cream.

The three of the ate in silence.

Ankoku noticed that Xion didn't show up yet.

"_I bet she won't show up at all" _she thought.

Lately, she would always head back to her room after a mission.

It made Ankoku wonder if her friend was alright or not.

Roxas looked at his ice cream.

"Today make 255" he said.

Axel had his ice cream stick hanging from his mouth when he looked at him.

"What's that about?" he asked.

Roxas looked at him.

"It's been that many days since sis and I joined the Organization" he said.

Ankoku's face lit up.

"Oh yeah, it has" she said.

Roxas nodded.

"Man, time flies" he said.

Axel smirked at them.

"So, you got the number memorized?" he asked.

Roxas nodded.

"Yeah" he said.

"Have to hang onto something, right? It's not like I have memories from before the Organization. Don't you remember? I acted like a zombie"

Axel placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Right, that first week you could barley form a sentence" he said.

He smirked and slapped him on the back.

"But come on, you're still kind of a zombie"

Ankoku chuckled.

"You got that right" she said.

Roxas looked at them.

"Oh thanks!" he said.

Axel chuckled before looking at the sun.

"Hey you guys" he said.

"Bet you don't know why the sun sets red"

He looked at them.

"You see, light is made up of lots of colors" he said.

"And out of all those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest"

Ankoku looked at him.

"Wow, that sounds really smart" she said.

"I bet Tsukiko told you that. There's no way you would have figured that out on your own"

Axel glared at her.

"Hey, what was that for?" he asked.

"I am too smart"

Ankoku snorted.

"Please" she said.

"You're all brawn but no brains"

Axel just looked at her.

"And here I was, trying to give you a little lesson"

Roxas chuckled.

"Like we asked, know-it-all" he said.

The three of them laughed at the joke.

After a while, they all just sat down and enjoyed the sunset.

Axel was laying down on the ground with his legs propped on the ledge.

Roxas looked off to the side.

"Seriously, where is she?" he asked.

Ankoku knew he meant Xion.

She was wondering the same thing.

Axel looked off to the side before sitting up straight.

He looked at them.

"You guys…" he said.

"I'm not sure she's going to show today"

The twins looked at him.

Roxas panicked.

"Did she collapse again?" he asked.

Axel shook his head.

"She…." He said.

He looked away.

He just couldn't face them.

"What, you didn't hear?" he asked.

"She got sent on a really important mission. Pretty cool, huh?"

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

She knew he was hiding something since he wasn't looking at them.

"Oh, really?" she asked.

"So when's she coming back?"

Axel shrugged.

"Well, I guess that depends on how well she does her job, right?" he asked.

Roxas nodded.

"Fair enough" he said.

/

At Castle Oblivion, Xion stood in front of a crystal ball.

She was starting to wonder about her origins and who she was before she became a nobody.

She knew she wasn't going to get any answers from Xemnas or Axel, so she decided to find out for herself.

She found through the castle's computers that her origins were at Castle Oblivion.

She looked inside the crystal ball and peered at the images it projected.

She shook her head as she saw them.

"No…" she said.

She took a step back.

"Then…I'm not…the person I was before…wasn't me"

She ran out of the room when she couldn't take it anymore.

/

_Day 256_

The next day, Xemnas had summoned everyone to the round room.

Something big must have happened if he summoned everyone.

Ankoku sat next to Roxas on their throne as they waited for what Xemnas had to say.

The superior looked at all of his followers.

He knew that what he was about to say would be very interesting to them.

"Xion is gone" he said.

Half of the group was surprised while the other appeared to be less interested.

Roxas and Ankoku were shocked.

What did he mean that she was gone?

Demyx was the most vocally surprised.

"What?" he asked.

"Whoa, whoa, time out…you mean she, like, flew the coop?"

Xaldin scoffed.

"Preposterous" he said.

"What would drive her to choose her own demise?"

Xemnas just looked at regal as ever.

"On the contrary" he said.

"No one is to go looking for Xion without my express permission"

That set Roxas and Ankoku off.

They couldn't search for their friend?

"What?" Roxas cried.

"Why not?" Ankoku added.

Saix glared at them.

"Your 'friend' will be left alone" he said.

"Or would you rather we find some punishment?"

Ankoku growled at him.

She was tempted to give him the finger at that point.

Roxas glared at him as well.

"I'd rather you get her back!" he said.

Saix looked at him.

"And why would we do that?" he asked.

Roxas just growled.

Xemnas looked at everyone.

"All will be revealed when the time comes" he said.

Axel had stayed quiet through all of this.

"Hmm…which means, if the time doesn't come, things can stay as they are…" he muttered.

Saix looked at everyone.

"Lord Xemnas has spoken" he said.

"Obey, or face your end"

Ankoku glared at him as everyone left.

There was no way she was just going to sit back and let Xion be out there by herself.

She didn't care how much trouble she was going to be.

She was going to find her, even if she had to do it by herself.

/

**A/N: Uh-oh, looks like Xion has finally lost it. Now Ankoku has to go search for her. That means we get to see Riku again! But will it be a nice reunion between the two of them? Or will Ankoku learn something about her origins?**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	20. Origins come forward

Chapter 20: Origins come forward

**A/N: Now is where the story leads away from the game drastically. While Ankoku looks for Xion, she discovers about her past and what will happen to her eventually. Please don't be mad at me for it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku, Tsukiko and Taiyouko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

_Day 276_

It had nearly been three weeks since Xion went missing.

Three long agonizing weeks for Ankoku to secretly search for her friend.

She would search every world that they had been onto together after every mission, and every time, she would come up empty handed.

She even had Tsukiko help her search around Twilight Town.

The young woman sighed as they sat in her living room.

"I have no idea where she could be" she said.

Ankoku rest her head on the coffee table in a defeated manner.

She was starting to have bags under her eyes for lack of sleep.

"I checked every single world that we've been on together, and I've come up with nothing" she said.

Tsukiko ran a hand through her loose hair.

"Maybe she isn't on a world you've been on" she pointed out.

"She's probably hiding from the Organization and wants to be somewhere where they wouldn't think of looking"

Ankoku looked at her.

"That does sound about right" she said.

"But the question is _where _is she hiding?"

She slammed her fist on the table in frustration.

This caused the plate of sea shells that stood in the middle to rattle.

Ankoku looked at them and picked one up.

It occurred to her that Xion always went to a beach to gather sea shells when she and Roxas were sleeping.

Her eyes widen.

"I think I know where she is!" she cried.

She stood up and opened a portal.

"Sorry, Tsukiko. But I have to go"

Tsukiko nodded in understanding.

"Just be careful, ok?" she asked.

Ankoku nodded and headed back to the castle to prepare.

/

When Ankoku stepped out of her room, she made sure that no one was around.

If Saix or the others found out that she was looking for Xion, they would skin her alive.

She pulled out the sea shell that she kept in her pocket and closed her fingers around it.

"_I have no idea where this beach could be" _she thought.

"_But hopefully this will help me find my way"_

She opened a portal, thinking of the beach that the sea shell might be from.

She was about to enter it, but she was stopped by someone.

"Where are you going, sis?"

Ankoku jumped when she saw Roxas behind her.

She forgot that their rooms were next to each other.

She gave him a nervous grin and twirled her finger around her blue ribbon.

"Um…nothing" she said.

"I was…uh…heading over to Tsukiko's"

Roxas gave her a serious look.

"You're up to something" he said.

Ankoku laughed nervously.

"What makes you think that?" she asked.

"Because whenever you're hiding something, you mess around with your ribbon" Roxas pointed out.

Ankoku mentally scowled.

She should have realized that Roxas would figure that out.

Even though he looked like he wasn't paying attention, that didn't mean he actually was.

Roxas crossed his arms in front of him.

"Where were you going?" he asked.

Ankoku sighed.

She knew she couldn't hide anything from him.

It was a twin thing.

She looked around to make sure no one was around before moving closer to Roxas.

"I think I know where Xion" is she whispered.

Roxas's eyes went huge.

"You do?" he cried.

Ankoku quickly covered his mouth.

"Shhh!" she hissed.

"We're not supposed to be looking for her, so be quiet!"

Roxas nodded.

Ankoku sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"I figured out where she may be, so I was going to check there before we went on our missions" she said.

"And I was trying to be secret about it because you know what will happen if Saix finds out about it"

Roxas nodded.

"Ok, then I'll go with you" he said.

Ankoku gave him a dull look.

"It'll be suspicious if the Organization's only keyblade masters are out before they're given a mission" she said.

Roxas just shrugged.

"We'll just act like we were going to get some ice cream before we started the day" he said.

"You know, get a sugar buzz"

Ankoku sighed.

She knew there was no way she could talk Roxas out of this.

"Ok, you can come with" she said.

"But you have to keep quiet about this. You can't tell anyone, not even Axel"

Roxas made a face.

"Why not Axel?" he asked.

Ankoku didn't want to tell him that she was starting to get suspicious of him.

He was keeping things from him when he promised that he would tell everything to his best friends.

"Saix is always on his tail" she lied.

"He could be around if you talk to him"

Roxas nodded in understanding.

"Got it" he said.

Ankoku walked back towards the portal she made.

"Let's make this quick" she said.

"We don't want the others to think that we left to Organization too"

Roxas nodded and followed her through the portal.

Ankoku gripped the sea shell that was in her hand and hoped that it would lead them to Xion.

/

The sound of the waves and the smell of the sea hit Ankoku like a ton of bricks.

As she walked across the white sands, she couldn't help but feel like she knew this place.

She scoffed at that idea.

How was she able to feel when she was a nobody?

And there was no way that she had been here before.

If she had, she would have never left.

The scenery was so beautiful with the clear waters and the lustful trees.

As she was walking along the beach, images of the girl flashed through her head.

She could see her laughing with her friends who consisted of Riku, the boy who looked like Roxas and the girl who looked like Xion.

They were all racing across the beach and headed towards this raft.

It suddenly dawned on her that this was probably that girl's world.

"_Was I drawn here by coincidence?" _she thought.

"_Or was it…destiny"_

As she stood there, she saw Roxas pick up a shell and examined it.

"Xion" he said.

Ankoku patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, we'll find her" she said.

Roxas nodded.

He looked up and saw something behind his sister.

"Hey, look"

Ankoku turned around and saw a figure wearing an Organization cloak standing in the middle of a mini island.

Ankoku gasped.

"Xion!"

They both ran towards the island to see if it was their long lost friend.

/

When they made it across the bridge, they skidded to a stop in front of the figure.

Now that they got a close look, the figure held a feminine structure to it.

"Xion!" they cried.

The figure turned around to face them and pulled off its hood.

Roxas and Ankoku's smiles faltered when they saw not Xion, but rather Zexion.

Ankoku was beyond confused.

Why was Zexion here?

Wasn't he terminated back at Castle Oblivion?

Zexion seemed to be looking past them.

"Surely…you must have known this was going to happen" he said.

"Why would I know?"

Ankoku gasped.

She knew who that voice belonged to.

Whipping her head around, she saw a younger version of Riku standing on the bridge with Taiyouko standing next to him.

Ankoku gripped her head.

What was going on?

The younger Riku walked past the twins and stood in front of Zexion.

Taiyouko gripped his shoulder to prevent him from doing anything.

Zexion just smirked.

"Because in your memory, you've been to a number of worlds before this one"

They stared circling around the twins and started talking.

Some of them were complete sentences while others were broken up.

"And of course, in those worlds, the only thing you met were the dark kind"

"That's all that's left in your heart"

"The darkest kind of memories"

Pain flared up in Ankoku's head that she fell to her knees and grabbed her head.

When Roxas fell to the ground, everything became hazy to Ankoku.

One minute, she was looking at her hand, and then the next she saw Xion standing in her place.

She fell to the ground and went through some kind of weird phase.

First, she was her regular self, and then she turned into Riku.

Then she turned into the boy who looked liked Roxas then lastly, the girl who looked just like herself.

When she looked into the girl's eyes, that's when she blacked out.

The memories slowly died down.

She didn't even realize that she was saved by someone or that Xion was right next to her.

Riku was kneeling on the ground, holding Xion while Taiyouko was doing the same for Ankoku.

Xion tossed her head slightly.

"Who am I?" she asked.

"What am I…here for?"

Taiyouko looked at Ankoku sadly as she brushed the hair out of her eyes.

Ankoku groaned as she kept picturing that girl.

"Hi…ka…ri…" she moaned.

Taiyouko sadly looked at Riku.

"I think it's much worse than Namine thought it would be" she said.

Riku nodded.

He remembered when they last saw the memory witch.

/

_Flashback._

_Namine sat in her white room as she looked at her guests._

_It had been a while since she saw Riku and Taiyouko._

"_I wasn't sure I'd see you both again" she admitted._

"_You made me a promise" Riku pointed out._

_Namine nodded._

"_To look after Sora and Hikari" she said._

"_I remember"_

_She looked at the table sadly._

"_I'm sorry" she said._

"_I'm not sure I've kept that promise very well"_

_Taiyouko tilted her head._

"_What happened?" she asked._

_Namine bit her lip._

"_Some of Sora and Hikari's memories are missing" she said._

_Riku paled slightly._

_That couldn't be good._

"_How can that be?" he asked._

"_They're escaping from Sora and Hikari's nobodies into a third person-" Namine said._

"_And now they're starting to become a part of her"_

_They had learned a while back that it was Xion she was talking about._

_Riku looked at her._

"_You can't get the memories back out?" he asked._

_Namine nodded._

"_If they're still separate…then yes, I think so" she said._

_She looked at her drawing of the four nobodies hanging with each other._

"_But if they join with her memories, things get a lot more complicated" she said._

"_I would need to untangle her memory before I could finish Sora and Hikari's…what was supposed to take months may take years. Diz would be furious"_

_Taiyouko snarled at the mention of him._

_Riku gripped her arm to calm her down._

_He knew that she had a grudge with him and he had to always separate their fights._

_It was not pretty._

_He looked at Namine._

"_So what's the solution?" he asked._

_He didn't want to wait years for Sora and Hikari to wake up._

_He wanted them back now._

_He wanted to hold Hikari in his arms and never let her go._

_Namine gripped her sketchbook._

"_If I try to just jump in and rearrange her memory…then I risk Sora and Hikari waking up to find out that nobody remembered them anymore. I can't do that to them"_

_She looked at the table._

"_It's too late either way" she said._

"_Their awakening will have to be delayed"_

_She chuckled slightly._

"_I never imagined Sora and Hikari's nobodies and the other one would fight so hard to be their own people" she said._

"_Unfortunately, the only real solution…is for them to all go away"_

_She looked at them._

"_Did you know her face was blank at first?" she asked._

"_Only now can you see someone. That proves some of Sora and Hikari's memories are inside her. Some inside her, some inside them and some inside their nobodies. I can't sort it out anymore. All I can do is pick up the pieces once what has been done, is done"_

_Riku mulled this over._

_So the only way that Sora and Hikari could wake up is if they had their nobodies, and Xion return to them._

_He already found one of them, now he just had to find the other._

_He nodded._

"_All right, then" he said._

_/_

Taiyouko looked at Riku.

"Hey…where did the other one go?" she asked.

She noticed that Roxas was missing.

Riku looked up in time to see him running through a portal, leaving his sister behind.

Riku sighed.

"Well…this just made things more complicated" he said.

He looked at Taiyouko to see her cradling Ankoku close to her.

She looked so sad as she looked at her face.

"Are you ok?" Riku asked.

Taiyouko gave him a weak smile.

"Of course I am" she said.

"I get to hold a part of my daughter. I'm happy"

Despite saying that, he knew she was lying.

"_She would rather hold her real daughter" _he thought.

This must have been really hard on her,

To have to hold the empty shell that was once your loved one must have been painful.

Even just looking at her tore Riku's heart up.

Whenever he looked at Ankoku, he saw Hikari's face as well.

It just reminded him that part of her memories were locked inside this shell and she couldn't wake up until Ankoku returned to her.

He could just bring her back to Namine.

But she said that she needed both nobodies in order for them to wake up.

Since Sora and Hikari went to sleep at the same time, they had to be woken up at the same time as well.

If one woke up earlier than the other, it would disrupt with the memory process.

When he heard Xion groaning, he looked to see if she was ok.

He didn't realize that she was dreaming of her friends.

/

_Xion, Roxas, Ankoku and Axel were all sitting by the Paopu fruit tree, watching the sunset. _

_It was nice that she was able to be with her friends, but she couldn't help but frown._

"_Is it that I'm not supposed to exist?" she asked._

_Axel looked at her._

"_Well, what do you want to do, Xion?" he asked._

_Xion looked at her clasped hands._

"_I want…I want to be with you three"_

_Roxas and Ankoku placed their hands over hers._

"_Then come back with us" Roxas said._

_Ankoku nodded._

"_Yeah, we'll take care of you"_

_Xion shook her head._

"_I can't" she said._

"_Not the way that I am now"_

_She looked up at the sunset._

"_But…what would it take for me to be like you?"_

_Nobody said anything._

_Instead, they just watched the sunset._

/

Xion's eyes fluttered open to see Riku and Taiyouko hovering over her.

"You're…"

"Riku and this is Taiyouko" Riku said.

"We're Sora and Hikari's friends"

"Well, Riku is their friend. I'm Hikari's mother" Taiyouko pointed out.

Riku rolled his eyes from behind his blindfold.

Xion's eyes lit up.

"You know Sora and Hikari?" she asked.

Riku nodded.

"Yeah"

He helped her up while Taiyouko stood up with Ankoku still in her arms.

Xion noticed her friend right away.

"Ankoku!" she cried.

Taiyouko gave her a reassuring smile.

"She's fine" she said.

"The question is, are you alright?"

Xion nodded.

She looked at Riku.

"You save me" she said.

"But I don't know why…you did"

Riku shrugged.

"I guess" he said.

"I just felt like it"

He started to walk away, but Xion stopped him.

"Riku, please…tell me more- about that girl who is always with Sora and Hikari"

Riku stopped walking.

"You mean Kairi" he said.

"Kairi…" Xion repeated.

"That's right. She's the one who looks so much like me"

Riku walked over to her.

"To Sora, she's someone very special. She's also Hikari's best friend"

Xion slowly walked towards the Paopu fruit tree.

"It's just…" she said.

"I remember things about the three of them. But I'm nothing more than a puppet-something that somebody created. So why would I have…their memories?"

She looked at them.

"Do you know where Sora and Hikari are now?" she asked.

"That secret stays with us" Riku said referring to Taiyouko and himself.

Xion turned around fully to face them.

"Why's that?" she asked.

Taiyouko sighed sadly.

"Xion…" she said.

"Your memories…they really belong to Sora and Hikari"

Xion gulped.

"So you mean…I'm like a part of them?" she asked.

Riku nodded.

"When their memories were scattered, some of them…found their way inside you" Riku said.

"Now, they've been put to sleep so we can piece together their memories. Except…"

"You can't, because part of it is inside of me" Xion finished.

"That means…they can't wake up"

Taiyouko nodded.

"You got it" she said.

"But, if you come with us to Sora and Hikari right now, we could give the memories inside you back to them"

Xion looked at them.

"So, do you hate me for taking your friend and daughter away?" she asked.

Riku and Taiyouko shook their heads.

"Nah" Taiyouko said.

"I guess…" Riku said.

"We're just sad"

Xion looked at them sadly.

"I'm sorry" she said.

"But…I can't go with you"

She looked at Ankoku's sleeping form.

"It's my friends-they need me. And I need them too"

Riku placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe…" he said.

"You should take some time and think about it"

Taiyouko nodded.

"Figure out who really needs you more" she pointed out.

"And where you belong"

Xion looked at them sadly.

"How will I know where I belong, truly?" she asked.

"I'm not sure I can promise you I'll come with the right answer"

Taiyouko smiled softly at her.

"Well, the answer you come up with can't just be right for you" she said.

"It has to be one that works best for everybody. You and your friends and everyone else"

Xion nodded.

Just then, everyone heard Ankoku groaning.

"My head" she moaned.

Taiyouko gently placed her down so she could sit up.

Ankoku's eyes fluttered open to see Taiyouko hovering over her.

"You're that woman…from beast's castle" she said.

Taiyouko smiled weakly.

"I'm Taiyouko" she said.

"And I take it you're here for someone"

She pointed towards Xion.

"Xion!"

Ankoku quickly stood up and gripped Xion's hands.

"I've been looking for you everywhere!" she cried.

"I didn't know where to look for you, but then I remembered you always collected sea shells, so I tried here. The Organization is having a field day with you leaving. It took Roxas and I everything just to get here"

Just then, she noticed the her twin was gone.

"Hey, where did he go?"

"He left a while ago" Riku said.

"His memories got the best of him"

When Ankoku saw him, he glared.

"You!"

She whipped out her keyblade and pushed Xion behind her.

Riku summoned his Soul Eater and got into a fighting stance.

The two glared at each other.

Taiyouko sighed and bashed their head together.

"Now, now. There's no need for violence" she said.

Riku gripped his nose, thinking it was bleeding, while Ankoku held her mouth.

"What the heck did you do that for?" she asked.

Taiyouko glared at her.

"Listen here, missy" she said.

"I don't care if you're a nobody. You're still a lady so have some manners"

Riku chuckled a little, but stopped when Taiyouko rounded on him.

"And you" she said.

"You should know better than that"

As she was lecturing him, Ankoku noticed she looked just like the girl she kept seeing.

"Hey, you look a lot like this girl I keep seeing" she said.

"I think…I think her name was…Hikari"

She chuckled.

"That's kind of weird"

Taiyouko looked at her sadly.

"It's not weird" she said.

"That girl…she's my…she's my daughter"

Ankoku looked at her.

"You're daughter?"

Taiyouko nodded.

Ankoku ran a hand through her hair.

"That's weird" she said.

"Why would I be having visions of some random person's daughter?"

Riku slowly walked over to her.

"There's nothing random about it" he said.

"That girl you keep seeing…they aren't visions…they're memories"

Ankoku looked at him.

"Memories?" she asked.

Riku nodded.

"Yeah" he said.

"Or rather…memories of your old life"

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

"Old life?" she asked.

Taiyouko looked at her sadly.

"You really don't know, do you?" she asked.

"I think the Organization wanted to keep it that way" Riku pointed out.

Taiyouko knelt in front of Ankoku and gripped her shoulders.

"You remember who you were before you became a nobody?" she asked.

"Do you remember your true name?"

Ankoku remembered Xemnas asking her that long ago.

"My true name…is…"

She gripped her head to try to remember.

Taiyouko placed a hand on her face.

"Don't strain yourself" she said.

"Why don't we just tell you instead"

She looked at Xion.

"You might want to listen as well"

Xion nodded.

Taiyouko looked back at Ankoku.

"As you said before, that girl you kept say is named Hikari" she said.

"She's not just some random girl you've been seeing in your head. She's your other half"

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

"Other…half?" she asked.

"Yeah" Riku said.

"Before you became a nobody"

Ankoku looked at him.

"Can you tell me more…about my other half? About Hikari?"

Riku looked at Taiyouko to see her nod.

Riku looked at the ground as he spoke.

"She was someone you would always want around" he said.

"She was cheerful, and she could always put a smile on your face. She wasn't a really strong fighter, but she was the third greatest one we had on the islands. She wasn't really a great runner . Her favorite color was red. She was terrified of the dark, but she tried her best to overcome her fears."

He smiled softly.

"And she had a way of winding herself in people's hearts"

Taiyouko looked at Ankoku.

"She is also someone very special to Riku" she said.

"She is his sweetheart"

Riku blushed at that.

At the mention of sweetheart, Ankoku thought of Tsukiko and Axel.

Even though they were an odd couple, they still found a way to care for each other.

When she looked at Taiyouko, she noticed that she looked a lot like Tsukiko.

They had the same skin tone, the same hair style when it was done, the same smile.

Taiyouko tilted her head.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

Ankoku shook her head.

"Sorry" she said.

"You just look like someone that I know"

She looked at Riku.

"If I'm Hikari's nobody…then why am I seeing memories of her?"

Riku's hand turned into a fist.

"She's in a very deep sleep" he said.

"She lost her memory, and we're trying to get it back. We were doing fine for a while, but some of her memories went missing and wound up-"

"Inside me" Ankoku finished.

Riku nodded.

Ankoku looked at the ground.

"She needs all of her memories in order to wake up?" she asked.

Taiyouko nodded.

"That's the only way" she said.

Ankoku chuckled darkly.

She suddenly understood what was going on.

"So you want me to return to her?" she asked.

Taiyouko bit her lip and looked at Riku.

"We don't just need you" he said.

"we need your 'twin' as well"

Ankoku glared at him.

"What do you need with Roxas?" she asked.

"He hold bits of Hikari's memories" Riku said.

He wasn't going to explain that Roxas was Sora's nobody, it would take too much time.

Ankoku shook her head.

"This is insane" she said.

"I don't understand any of this at all. Why does this have to happen? Why did I have to find this out until now?"

Taiyouko gripped her shoulder.

"I'm sure you've been wondering about your existence" she said.

"Like why you were born and why you can use a keyblade?"

Ankoku bit her lip.

They hit the nail on the head.

She had been wondering about those things.

Why did she have a keyblade?

And what was her purpose in the Organization?

Taiyouko gripped her shoulder.

"If you come with us, we can give you all of the answers you need" she said.

Ankoku mulled it over.

She wanted to find the answers about her origins.

She wanted to know who she was before she was born.

She wanted to know it all.

But there was one thing.

"Roxas" she mumbled.

She just couldn't leave him alone.

He depended on her.

She was his shield from everyone.

Is she left him alone, then who knows what would happen to him.

She shook her head.

"I can't" she said.

"I have my twin brother to look after"

She looked at them.

"And…I need to know my purpose in the Organization. I want to know why they are keeping things from me"

Taiyouko nodded.

"Of course" she said.

"The decision is all up to you"

She stood up.

"We can't force you to do something that you don't want" she said.

"But when you have decided, we'll be waiting for you at the old mansion in Twilight Town"

Ankoku nodded.

"Ok" she said.

She turned to Xion.

"Are you coming?"

Xion looked at the ground.

After hearing that story, her mind was as uncertain as ever.

She didn't know if she should go with Ankoku or stay with Riku.

"I…"

Ankoku seemed to notice this.

Even though she wanted to bring her back, she knew she couldn't force her.

She wasn't that cruel.

She placed her hand on her shoulder.

"It's ok" she said.

Xion looked at her.

"You don't mind?" she asked.

Ankoku smiled and shook her head.

"I can't decided things for you" she said.

"Just promise me that you'll come back soon"

Xion nodded.

"Don't worry, I will" she said.

Ankoku turned to Riku.

"You better keep an eye on her" she warned.

Riku nodded.

"You have my word" he said.

Ankoku nodded.

"Then I should be heading back" she said.

"I bet Roxas is wondering where I'm at"

With that, she opened a portal and stepped through.

She looked at Xion one last time before going through it.

/

When Ankoku made it back to her room, she leaned against the door and slid down.

After hearing everything from Riku and Taiyouko about her origins, she was starting to wonder if the Organization was lying to her this whole time.

Even Axel acted like he didn't know.

She curled herself into a ball and closed her eyes tightly.

"What should I do?" she asked.

"Which is the right path for me?"

The only person who could answer that for her was herself.

/

**A/N: Uh-oh, Ankoku found out about her past. Will she stay with the Organization, or will she leave? And why does Taiyouko remind her of Tsukiko?**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**We're almost near the end!**

**Ja ne**


	21. And the world spirals downward

Chapter 21: And the world spirals downward

**A/N: We're coming near the end of the story! What will Ankoku decide? Will she continue to stay with the Organization? Or will she go back to where she belongs?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Weeks had gone by since Ankoku encountered Riku and Taiyouko.

Weeks of knowing that her whole life was a lie.

Weeks of knowing that she was not who she thought she was.

And weeks of deciding what path she must pick.

Roxas had no recollection of ever being on the beach, so she never brought it up.

She kept everything she learned a secret from everyone, including him.

She laid saying that she didn't know where Xion was and that she never found her.

She didn't trust her brother to cope with such information.

And she didn't trust Axel with it as well.

How could he have known about her origins and keep it from her?

We're they friends?

We're they suppose to tell each other stuff like this?

She really didn't know who to trust at this point.

Her only salvation was Tsukiko.

The young woman listened to her story about finding Xion.

She didn't tell her about Hikari or that she was preventing her from waking.

Tsukiko just went through one of the boxes that littered her living room and sorted through things.

Ankoku sighed as she rests her head on the sofa.

"Do you think I'm going crazy?" she asked.

Tsukiko chuckled.

"No" she said.

She looked at her.

"I've seen my fair share of crazy, and you my friend are sane"

Ankoku couldn't help but bite her lip when she looked at her.

After seeing Taiyouko, she realized that Tsukiko looked exactly like her.

Sure, they had different hair and eye color, but they still looked the same.

Tsukiko pulled something from the box she was currently working on.

She shook out a midnight purple dress that had a train on the back.

It was spaghetti strapped and reached her knees at the front.

"That's a pretty dress" Ankoku said.

Tsukiko smiled.

"Thanks" she said.

"I had this since I could remember. I wore this dress when I woke up in Twilight Town ten years ago. It was the only thing I had on me besides my necklace"

She pulled out a purple notebook that had silver and gold stars on it.

"I also wrote in this when I came to" she said.

"I had no memories about my past, but I kept having dreams about myself"

She flipped through the pages to show some writing and a few drawings.

"In every dream, I would summon this giant scythe and fight off these creatures that looked like heartless"

Ankoku looked at the picture to see a scythe that had a blue handle and blade. There was a black ribbon tied to the base of the blade and at the end where there was a sharp point on it.

The blade was blue and has a wavy type look to it that was outlined in black.

To top it all off, there stars and a crescent moon on the blade while there was a star on the spear tip.

"That's pretty cool" she said.

As she looked closer, she noticed that it almost looked like Marluxia's weapon.

A nobody weapon.

She paled slightly as she thought of that.

Now that she thought about it, Tsukiko did say she felt different from everyone around her.

Like, even though she had a heart, she still felt incomplete.

And that she couldn't understand her emotions.

Ankoku gulped as she watched Tsukiko put her things away.

Was there more to her friend than she knew?

/

_Day 297_

The next day, Roxas and Ankoku headed for the main room.

Saix was waiting for them, as usual.

"The imposter has been sighted again" he said.

Ankoku paled slightly.

She knew that it was Riku he was talking about.

Roxas looked interested.

"Imposter?" he asked.

"You mean the one that Sis and Xion…"

Saix looked at him.

"He's prowling around Castle Oblivion as we speak" he said.

"Castle Oblivion?" Roxas asked.

"I'll go"

Ankoku looked at him.

"I don't think that's such a good idea" she said.

She didn't want him to find Riku.

If he did, then he would find Xion.

She promised that she would give her some time to think before she came back to the castle.

Saix seemed to have other plans in mind.

"Not by yourself, you won't" he said.

"This target is extremely dangerous"

He looked at Ankoku.

"You would know all about that, wouldn't you?"

Ankoku glared at him.

She didn't have time for this.

Axel looked at Saix.

"Then how about I tag along with them?" he asked.

"I know that place better than anyone else here"

Saix closed his eyes.

"Very well" he said.

"Go and teach this fraud the price for wearing our coat"

Axel looked at the twins.

"Let's go" he said.

He opened a portal and they all headed towards the castle.

/

The three of them walked the white hallways of the castle.

"So this is Castle Oblivion" Roxas said.

"How boring" Ankoku added.

She didn't want to seem suspicious, so she decided to act like her normal self.

As they were walking, Ankoku felt a searing pain in her head.

Roxas seemed to have felt it as well since he grabbed his head.

Axel looked at them worriedly.

"You guys?" he asked.

They both fell to their knees.

"My…my head" Ankoku groaned.

Axel panicked.

"C'mon, let's retreat for now and-"

Roxas shook his head.

"No" he said.

"We have…to find…Xion…"

Memoires of Hikari rushed through Ankoku's head.

"All these…pictures…running through my head"

That did it for Axel.

"We're leaving. Now!" he said.

Just then, the twins passed out.

Axel picked them up and took them away.

/

"_Giving up already? I thought you were stronger than that"_

Ankoku's eyes fluttered open.

That was Riku's voice she heard in her head.

"Riku!"

She shot up to find herself in Twilight Town.

Axel looked at the twins.

"Whoa, easy there" he said.

Roxas groaned and sat up.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You both passed out at Castle Oblivion" Axel said.

"Don't you remember?"

Roxas stood up and helped Ankoku.

"We have to go back" he said.

Axel snorted.

"As if" he said.

"You two just rest up"

Just then, they sense someone was behind them.

Axel whipped his head around.

"Who's there?"

Ankoku nearly gasped when she saw Xion standing a few feet from them.

She had her hood up, but she knew it was her.

Roxas seemed to notice this too.

"Xion?" he asked.

Xion didn't say anything.

Instead, she opened a portal and went through it.

"Xion! Wait!"

Roxas went to run after her, but another cloaked figure stood in his way.

Ankoku knew right off the bat that it was Riku.

Roxas glared at him.

"Get out of my way!" he cried.

Riku just closed the portal behind him and ran into the cavern.

Roxas ran after him while Ankoku went to stop her brother.

Axel sighed in annoyance.

"You guys! Wait!"

He ran after them as well.

/

Ankoku didn't know what was going on.

Why were Xion and Riku here when they should be somewhere else?

Was Xion ready to come back?

She just followed Roxas as they ran through the cavern.

He was set on attacking Riku.

He must have thought that Xion was being held against her will by him and he wanted to rescue her.

Riku was leading them deeper into the cavern and would disappear at the last minute.

It was as if he was toying with them.

"_Or he's trying to lead us away from Xion" _Ankoku thought.

When they made it to a dead end, they saw him go through a portal and disappear.

Axel's face looked grim.

"I thought the imposter was sighted at Castle Oblivion" he said.

"What's he doing here?"

Roxas looked at the ground.

"Xion…" he said.

Axel looked at him.

"Ain't no way that was Xion!" he said.

Roxas looked at him.

"The other one was" he said.

"The one that escaped before"

He looked sad suddenly.

"But…I don't get it" he said.

"Why would she run from us?"

Ankoku didn't say anything.

She thought that if she did, she would give everything away.

As they were talking, they didn't realize that Xion was hiding behind one of the closest walls.

She bit her lip as she heard how upset Roxas was.

She wanted to go back, but then she didn't.

Riku appeared next to her.

"You want to go back?" he asked.

Xion didn't say anything.

She looked at her friends, then at the ground.

Her silence was her answer for Riku.

/

Roxas slowly ate his ice cream as they sat up on the clock tower.

"Why would she to that?" he asked.

Ankoku looked at him.

It tore her up inside for keeping everything she knew about Xion a secret.

If her friend wanted some privacy, then she should be allowed to have it.

"At least we know she's safe" Axel said.

Ankoku nodded.

"She'll come home when she's ready"

Roxas looked at Axel.

"But won't they turn her into a dusk?" he asked.

Axel shook his head.

"Not necessarily" he said.

Roxas looked at the ground.

"Who was that guy she was working with?" he asked.

"Why is she cooperating with him?"

Ankoku kept her mouth shut the whole time as they ate ice cream.

"_I'm sorry, Roxas" _she thought.

"_But there are some things you're best not knowing about"_

/

_Day 298_

The next day, Roxas and Ankoku found Axel talking with Saix.

"Oh, this cannot be good" Ankoku said.

They got closer to hear what they were talking about.

Axel glared at the blue elf.

"You're ordering to do what?" he snapped.

Saix looked at him coolly.

"Tell me what choice is left, now that Xion has made contact with that man in the black coat" he said.

When he saw the twins walking towards them, he left.

Roxas looked at Axel.

"Um, Axel?" he said.

The red head didn't say anything.

He just walked away and left his friends confused.

Ankoku just pushed her brother along to the main room, knowing that Saix would probably give them a sucky job.

/

And sucky it was.

The blue decided to give them bad news before sending them off on their mission.

"Xion has betrayed us" he said.

Roxas panicked.

"What?" he cried.

"No"

Ankoku didn't say anything.

She guessed that since she had been away from the Organization for so long, that the others thought she betrayed them.

"_I should have made her come back" _she thought.

Saix just looked at Roxas.

"You saw the creature consorting with that imposter" he said.

"What more evidence do we need?"

Roxas glared at him.

"That's not evidence!" he said.

"Who knows why she was with him?"

He looked at Axel, hoping he would add to his statement, but the red head just kept quite.

"I think we all know, and you just don't want to accept it" Saix said.

Roxas looked at the ground.

"He might be forcing her" he said.

"Spare me your repulsive displays of would-be sentiment" Saix said.

Ankoku glared at him.

How dare he talk that way to her brother?

"It's not a display" she said.

"Why is it such a crime to give each other the benefit of doubt?"

Axel just shook his head, telling her to stop talking.

"The imposter has resurfaced in Twilight Town" Saix said.

"Go and destroy him-like I expected you both to do yesterday"

Ankoku just grumbled at him.

Saix looked at Axel.

"Axel, you bring Xion back" he said.

"Gagged and tied up, for all I care. If that proves too troublesome, then you are authorized to adopt a more permanent solution"

Roxas looked at him.

"Saix, no!" he said.

Saix glared at him.

"Get going" he said.

Axel looked at his comrades.

"Well, this is pretty icky" he said.

Ankoku looked at him.

"You're not going to actually follow those orders?" she asked.

Axel smirked.

"Relax, I'll think of something once I find her" he said.

"You both just worry about yourselves. That guy in the coat didn't look like the type to go down without a fight"

"_You have no idea" _Ankoku thought.

They headed towards Twilight Town to track down their friend.

/

When arrived at Twilight Town, they decided to split up.

Axel would look at one part of the town while the twins searched the other.

"Let's try the market place" Ankoku said.

Roxas nodded and followed his twin sister.

When they got there, they found Tsukiko walking around.

"Tsukiko!"

They ran up to her.

"Hey you guys" Tsukiko said.

"What's going on?"

They explained the whole Xion thing to her.

She knew most of it thanks to Ankoku, but she pretended that this was the first time that she heard.

"So you think she's somewhere around here?" she asked.

They nodded.

"Saix says she's with this imposter, but I think she's with him against her own will" Roxas said.

Tsukiko held her chin in thought.

"That doesn't sound too surprising" she said.

"If you want, I can help you. No one knows this place better than me"

"Thanks Tsukiko" Ankoku said.

Tsukiko smiled.

"I'll do anything for a friend in need" she said.

As they were about to walk, they saw a person wearing an Organization cloak.

"Wait" Tsukiko.

"Is that…"

Just then, the person ran off.

"Wait!" Roxas cried.

They all ran after the person.

Ankoku didn't know if it was Riku or Xion.

The only thing she knew was that it wasn't going to be good when they caught up.

Tsukiko proved to be the fastest of the group and managed to be on the person's heals.

She managed to corner whoever it was in one of the empty lots of the market area.

When the person figured there was no escape, it pulled its hood off.

Roxas was relieved to see that it was Xion.

"Xion" he said.

Ankoku noticed that Xion didn't look happy to see them.

They walked up to her.

"Where have you been?" Roxas asked.

"We've been looking all over for you"

"You have?" Xion asked.

She looked at the ground.

"Sorry"

Roxas just smiled.

"Let's go home" he said.

He didn't even realize that Axel was nearby, listening to their conversation.

"If you come back voluntarily, Saix will let this drop. He has to"

Xion sadly looked at the ground.

Ankoku bit her lip.

She knew her friend was in a dilemma while Roxas was oblivious to it.

"I don't care what he said to you" he said.

"We'll be there"

He went to offer his hand, but Xion stepped away.

Xion sadly looked at the ground.

"I really can't" she said.

"Why not?" Roxas asked.

He was confused.

He thought Xion would want to come back with them.

When he went to offer his hand again, she stepped back again.

She stood still for a moment before she started to walk off.

Tsukiko, who was closest at the time, grabbed her arm.

"Xion, wait" she said.

Xion stood still for a moment, before she didn't something unspeakable.

Tsukiko gasped when Xion summoned her keyblade and pointed it at her.

Tsukiko slowly backed away.

Ankoku watched in horror.

Did Xion plan to attack her?

Just then, a flaming Chakram zipped by and flew near Xion.

She blocked it with her keyblade and watched is disappear.

Everyone turned around to see Axel coming towards them.

"Well, hello there…Xion" he said.

Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"Axel?" he asked.

Just then, Xion threw herself at Axel and attacked him.

Axel jumped out of the way and summoned his Chakrams to fight.

The twins and Tsukiko watched in horror as they saw their friends fighting each other.

Just as Xion charged at Axel again, Roxas interfered.

"Stop!" he cried.

Xion skidded to a halt, but was knocked out by Axel.

The red head picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

Tsukiko watched as her boyfriend handled Xion as if she were cargo.

"Axel?" she asked.

Axel looked at her with a grim expression on his face.

"Go back to your apartment" he said.

"I'll meet up with you later"

Roxas and Ankoku ran towards Axel to stop him, but he had already gone through a portal.

Ankoku looked at the ground.

"Why did he do that?"

/

The twins ran through the castle in search of Axel.

After he left, they followed after him.

How could he do that to Xion?

Ankoku thought maybe it was because he thought Xion was going to attack Tsukiko, but he should have known she would never do that.

When they spotted the red head, they charged at him.

"Axel!" Roxas cried.

He glared at him.

"Where is she?" he asked when they stood in front of him.

"Safe" Axel said.

He even had the nerve to be smiling.

Ankoku growled at him.

"How could you do that to her?" she asked.

"She didn't do anything wrong! She wasn't even going to hurt Tsukiko! You didn't have to use force"

Axel face went grim.

"Didn't I?" he asked.

Roxas shook his head.

"No! Of course not!" he said.

"We're suppose to be best friends!"

"This isn't about friendship" Axel snapped.

Roxas and Ankoku just looked at him.

It didn't bother him that he hurt one of his friends?

Axel just sighed.

"If that's all, I gotta go" he said.

Ankoku watched as he walked away.

His last words rang through her head.

"_If that's all?"_

/

Later than night, Axel confronted Saix.

He did his part in making sure Xion was back and now he wanted to chew the blue elf out.

Despite saying all those things to Roxas and Ankoku, he knew that it was wrong to attack Xion.

She was her friend.

But Saix seemed to think of other things.

He would have preferred that she was gone for good.

He glared at Saix.

"You're sure thing are better this way?" he asked.

Saix didn't even look at him.

"I never expected you to question it" he said.

"If you could save one of them…why would you choose the puppet?"

Axel just looked at the ground.

Saix just rubbed it in further.

"Or put it this way" he said.

"Which would you rather suffer the loss of: some make-believe friendship, or a real one?"

Axel didn't say anything.

Saix turned around to face him.

"Things are finally right again" he said.

"Of course we're better off this way. Xemnas is exasperated from all the 'fixing' we've had to do. We have to set things right. There is simply too much on the line"

Axel scoffed at that.

"I seriously doubt that" he said.

Saix glared at him.

"Oh really?" he asked.

"Then let me make it clearer for you. If you don't go along and fix this mess, then Lord Xemnas will hear about your little sweetheart"

Axel's face paled.

Saix smirked darkly.

"Oh, I've known about your little girlfriend for quite some time" he said.

"Tsukiko, was it? She is quite a lovely looking woman. I wonder what Lord Xemnas would do if he heard about her? Perhaps slay her with his Eternal Blades right in front of you?"

Axel gulped.

He didn't realize how in danger his girlfriend was until right now.

Saix walked over and stood right next to him.

"If you want the skin to stay on her body, you'll do as I say…Lea"

Axel just looked at him wearily before walking away.

The fact that he may have put his girlfriend's life on the line made his body shake.

/

**A/N: Uh-oh, Saix knew about Tsukiko! Is her life in danger, or will Axel make sure she's safe?**

**We'll find out what decision Ankoku has decided in the next chapter.**

**Will she still stay in the Organization? Or will she return to Hikari?**

**Please review and tell me what you think**

**Ja ne**


	22. Shattered

Chapter 22: Shattered

**A/N: We're coming towards the end of this story! Only two more chapters and then the epilogue.**

**Now we see what choice Ankoku has made about her fate. Will she still be the Organization's pet? Or will she return to where she belongs?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Everything seemed to go from bad to worse for our group of nobodies.

Even thought Xion was back in the Organization, Ankoku knew that there was a huge gap in their friendship.

Whenever she asked her how she was doing, Xion would just snap saying she was fine.

Axel was acting more distant than ever and seemed to be hanging around Tsukiko a lot more often.

Roxas was acting strange and said he was starting to have dreams about a boy named 'Sora'.

And as for Ankoku, she was in quite a dilemma.

She had been getting more memories of Hikari and it just reminded her that she was preventing her from waking up.

She knew that she should go back to Hikari, but she wanted to still figure out what was her purpose here.

Why was she still collecting hearts when Kingdom Hearts was complete?

Why was everyone keeping things from her and leaving her in the dark?

She remembered when she tried to see if Xemnas would tell her something.

/

_Flash back._

_Xemnas sat on his throne in the round room when Ankoku appeared before him._

_The superior looked at his keyblade wielder as she sat in front of him._

"_I need to ask you something" she said._

_Xemnas just wore a creepy smile on his face._

"_And what would that be?" he asked._

_Ankoku resisted the urge to shutter._

_The way he carried himself and the way that he spoke set her off._

"_Who is Hikari?" she asked._

_She already knew who she was, but she wanted to see if Xemnas would say something differently._

_Xemnas chuckled darkly._

"_She's the connection" he said._

_Ankoku raised an eyebrow._

"_The what?"_

_She had to act like she didn't know, or else Xemnas would suspect her._

"_She is what makes you and Xion a part of each other's lives" Xemnas said_

"_Just as she is the reason I placed Xion among our number. And if you want her to stay that way, I must insist you get your mind off these needless distractions"_

_Ankoku nodded._

_She knew she wouldn't get anything else out of him._

"_All right" she said._

_She headed back to her room for the day._

/

As the days went by, it became harder and harder for her to decide what was the right choice for her.

She sighed as she sat on her bed.

She looked at her journal which held all of the memories that she had of Hikari.

"Hikari…" she said.

"What would you do in a situation like this?"

/

_Day 350_

As Ankoku slept, she had a very strange dream.

While it involved Hikari, it wasn't a memory.

It was something that was about to happen in the future.

/

_A slightly older Hikari was all smiles as she looked at the man she loved most._

_Riku was all grins too as they stood on the mini island of their home world._

_It seemed that it was a special day since people were gathered around them._

_Sora, Kairi and Taiyouko were recognizable, but there were faces that were not seen before._

_There was a duck wearing a blue outfit who was accompanied by a tall dog._

_Next to them, there was a mouse that held an authority like power to himself._

_Next to Taiyouko, was a man who looked a lot like Hikari, only he had brown eyes and had a scar running across his face._

_All of them were smiling as they watched the two lovers holding each other's hands._

_Hikari was wearing a flowing white strapless gown and had her hair curled up while Riku wore a black tux._

_Hikari had tears in her eyes as a man wearing formal robbing stood in between them._

"_Do you Hikari; take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward?"_

_Hikari nodded frantically._

"_I do" she said._

_The man looked at Riku._

"_And do you, Riku take this woman to be your lawfully wife. To have and to hold, from this day forward?"_

_Riku smiled lovingly at Hikari._

"_I do"_

_The man looked at the both of them._

"_Then by the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride"_

_As the mention of kissing, Riku smashed his lips on Hikari's._

_Hikari wrapped her arms around Riku as they kissed._

_Tears fell down her eyes as she basked in this moment._

_Everyone around them was clapping and cheering them on._

_Taiyouko wiped the tears in her eyes as she saw her only daughter get married._

_Riku pressed his forehead against Hikari's when the kiss ended._

"_I love you" he said softly._

_Hikari smiled up at her new husband._

"_I love you too" she said._

_The newlyweds held each other tightly and basked in this moment._

/

A tear fell down Ankoku's face as she woke up.

"What was that all about?" she asked.

She sat up and wiped the tear from her eye.

"I'm crying?" she asked.

"But how can I? Nobodies can't feel anything"

She got up from her bed and decided to go out for a while.

Saix was too busy trying to keep Xion in line, so she figured he wouldn't notice that she was gone.

She opened a portal and headed towards Twilight Town.

/

She headed towards her usual spot at the clock tower.

She thought about seeing Tsukiko, but she figured she had seen enough of her.

She had gone to her place nearly every day last week and she figured she needed some breathing room.

Plus, she needed to sort out her thoughts about what to do about herself.

That recent vision really triggered something within her.

Hikari looked so happy in that vision, that it made something churn inside of her.

If she was still around, there was no way that she would experience that moment.

Riku looked so happy in that image as well that she didn't think it was him at that moment.

As she headed towards her usual spot on the clock tower, she quickly hid off to the side when she saw that someone was already there.

Peeking around the corner, she saw that Axel and Tsukiko were sitting by the clock tower.

Instead of sitting on the ledge, Axel had his back up to the clock's wall with Tsukiko sitting in his lap.

The woman smiled contently as she was held protectively in the arms of the man she loved most.

She looked up at him.

"You know, you don't have to see me every day like this" she said.

"I'm fine with seeing you every other day"

Axel scoffed.

"As if" he said.

"The Organization is really cracking down on finding this imposter and they've doubled their search around here. I don't want you to get caught up in it"

Tsukiko chuckled and kissed him on the lips.

"For being a nobody, you really are a worry-wart"

Axel just smirked and placed his head on top of hers.

"You're the only reason I'm still sane" he said.

"After everything that's happened, I'm surprised I haven't lost it"

Tsukiko just sighed and just nuzzled her face into his chest.

"I wouldn't mind seeing a crazy Axel" she said.

"I'm sure you would be more interesting then"

Axel cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh really?" he asked.

He started tickling her side and smiled when she laughed.

"Ok, I take it back!" she cried.

When Axel stopped tickling her, she sighed.

"You really are one of a kind" she said.

"I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you in my life. My heart would simply shatter if anything happened to you"

Axel just chuckled.

"Aren't we a little drama queen" he said.

The two of them just kissed each other and enjoyed each other's company.

Ankoku bit her lip as she watched this.

After seeing their reaction towards each other, it just proved that she really should return to Hikari.

What Tsukiko said really hit her.

She figured that was what Riku was probably thinking right now.

If anything happened to Hikari, what would he do?

He would never have that moment of making her, his wife.

He would never smile like that again.

As she compared Axel and Tsukiko's smiles to theirs, she knew that, that was what love was probably about.

A bond that could never be broken by anyone or anything.

She let out a shaky sigh as she came to her decision.

"I have to go back" she said quietly.

She suddenly thought of Roxas.

"_We _have to go back"

If she didn't belong here, then surely Roxas didn't.

He may not know what was going on around him, but he would find out later.

She didn't want her brother to be kept in the dark any longer.

She needed to get him out of the Organization before Xemnas did anything to him.

She quietly left the clock tower and headed back to the castle.

She needed to get her brother out of this before anything worse could happen.

/

Ankoku searched high and low for her twin brother.

She had to tell him that it wasn't safe in the Organization and that they needed to leave.

But as she continued to search with no sight of him, she realized that he was on a mission.

She sighed as she leaned against one of the hallways walls.

She ran a hand through her hair and let it fall back in front of her face.

"What am I going to do?" she asked.

Just then, an image flashed through her head.

/

_Xemnas had gathered everyone to the round room for a meeting._

_He looked displeased he eyed his followers._

"_Xion has vanished again" he said._

_Xaldin looked at him._

"_Do we know where she is?" he asked._

_Xemnas closed his eyes._

"'_It', not 'she'" he corrected._

"_Xion is just a replica…a puppet"_

_Luxord raised an eyebrow._

"_Puppet?" he asked._

"_Someone made her?"_

"_Puppets generally don't make themselves" Saix replied._

"_The Replica Program was one of our little pet projects" Xigbar explained._

_Demyx looked at Saix._

"_Replica whatza?" he asked._

_Xaldin looked at Xemnas._

"_Perhaps you'd care to enlighten us about this 'pet project'" he said._

_Xemnas nodded._

"_The goal was to duplicate both of the keyblade wielder's memories, and through them, their powers-thus making them our own" he said._

"_Vexen oversaw the project at Castle Oblivion. However, our efforts were severely derailed by his unexpected demise. And this particular replica-the one we called Xion-came to form an identity of her own"_

"_That caught us off guard" Saix said._

"_If anything like that happened before, no one at C.O. ever reported it"_

_He looked at Axel._

"_Did they, Axel?"_

_The red head didn't say anything._

_Xemnas shook his head._

"_Fortunately, the puppet has no means of dashing our plans now, even if she has learned to pull her own strings" he said._

"_Still, she knows our secrets. We need to shorten her leash….and perhaps tighten it"_

_He turned to Axel._

"_Axel. Seeing as how she escaped on your watch, the onus is on you to capture her and return her here. I am willing to overlook any nicks or scratches. Just ensure she still functions on arrival"_

_Xaldin shook his head._

"_Why you would allow a deserter back under our roof…she should be eradicated" he said._

"'_Deserter' is hardly the term for a broken specimen who wandered out from under the microscope" Saix said._

_Xemnas looked at Axel._

"_Axel, you have your orders" he said._

_With that, everyone was dismissed._

/

Ankoku gasped when the vision faded.

So Xion wasn't a real nobody, but a replica.

And what made it worse was that Xemnas was willing to sacrifice Sora and Hikari, just so he could have an ultimate being.

"_You monster!" _she thought.

She realized that Axel knew this all along.

He had kept quiet about this from her and Roxas the whole time.

Her eyes hardened at that.

How could he?

They were supposed to be friends, so how could he hide something like that from her and Roxas.

She stormed down the hallway in search of the red head.

/

She found him standing in the main room.

He must have gotten back from being with Tsukiko, since he still had a smile on his face.

That was about to change very quickly.

She stormed up to him.

"Axel!"

The red head turned around and smirked.

"Hey, Ankoku. What's up?"

Ankoku glared at him.

"You may be able to fool Roxas, but you can't fool me" she said.

"I know about Xion and what she is"

Axel's smile vanished.

He didn't have to think hard to know that she had a vision about it.

"So you found out" he said.

He ran a hand through his hair.

"That's not good"

Ankoku balled her hands into fists.

Axel sighed.

"How long have you known about her?" she asked.

Axel sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

He adverted his stare from her, which just made her growl.

"You knew all this time, and kept it from Roxas and I?" she snapped.

When Axel didn't say anything that just proved her point.

She looked at the ground.

"I thought we were friends?" she asked.

"How could you keep this from me?"

Axel looked at her.

"There are some things you were better off not knowing" he said.

"Xion was one of them"

Ankoku looked at him.

She couldn't believe that Axel, her friend would hide this from her.

He, like everyone else in the Organization, had kept her in the dark.

They didn't want their little toy to find out too much, or else she would rebel against them.

Well, that was right.

After seeing that vision and hearing Axel's words, she made her choice.

She was going to return to Hikari.

If she stayed here any longer, then Xemnas's plans would succeed.

"You know what" she said.

"I'm done with this"

She turned on her heel and looked over her shoulder.

"I bet Tsukiko would be horrified if she found out you kept things from her"

With that, she stormed back into her room, leaving Axel to his own demise.

/

Ankoku picked up her journal and held it tightly.

It was the only thing that belonged to her here, so she wanted to take it with,

Pulling out a blank page, she started writing a note to Roxas.

_Roxas,_

_I'm sure you'll find out by now that I've left the Organization. Xemnas and everyone else are keeping things from us and I've had enough of it. _

_I need to find out my purpose in life and I won't find it here._

_I can't tell you what's going on, but you'll find out soon enough._

_Axel has been keeping things about Xion from us this whole time._

_I can't tell you what to do, but when you make the decision, I'll be at my special 'place'._

_Please keep a watchful eye on everyone and stay safe._

_Your sister will always have your back._

_Sincerely,_

_Ankoku._

She took the note and placed it on Roxas's bed.

"If I can't find the answers here, then surly Riku and Taiyouko will know"

She quietly snuck out of her room and ran down the hallway.

/

She ran as fast as she could toward the entrance of the castle.

If she used a portal, then Xemnas would know.

He always kept tabs on where his followers were going.

As she ran, she encountered a few nobodies that were patrolling.

She slashed through them before they could report back to the higher up.

As she got near the entrance, she came to a halt.

Saix stood near the entrance as if he was waiting for her.

He must have known she would leave.

"We don't accept resignations" he said.

Ankoku glared at him.

"I've got nothing to say to you" she said.

Saix looked at her.

"Then let's keep this short and sweet" he said.

He summoned his claymore.

"Finally, I can get rid of the thorn that has been in my side"

Ankoku just summoned her black keyblade.

"Go ahead and try" she said.

"Maybe if I'm lucky, I can give you another scar on your face"

They faced each other off.

After countless months of arguing and butting heads with each other, they could finally finish the score between them.

Ankoku gripped her keyblade tightly.

Even though she didn't know how Saix fought, she could always use her powers.

Said lifted his claymore up.

"You're finished"

He swung his claymore around and fast rapid swings.

Ankoku was able to see this and manage to block some while jumping away from the others.

"You're messing with the wrong nobody!" she said.

Saix glared at her when she clashed her keyblade with his weapon.

"That may be true" he said.

"But you're still a weakling"

Ankoku got hit by his attacks when he went into berserker mode.

She held her side and quickly healed herself with magic.

There was no way she was going to lose to this guy.

After being treated like dirt for so long, she was going to make him pay.

"So what if I'm a weakling?" she asked.

She smashed her keyblade into his side.

"So what if I'm small compared to you?"

She blocked his claymore.

"I haven't been in the Organization as long as you have"

She dodged his next attack.

"I don't know the beginning of your story"

She sent a kick to his chest.

"And I don't know how it even began"

She glared at him.

"But I don't know something about you that you don't"

She pointed her keyblade as him.

"I know how your story ends"

She drove her keyblade into his chest and watched as he dropped his claymore.

He grunted and staggered away while holding his side.

"How much longer…" he rasped.

He fell to his knees.

Ankoku dismissed her keyblade and started to walk past him.

"Kingdom…Hearts…" Saix rasped.

"Will your strength never be mine?"

Ankoku stopped walking and looked over her shoulder.

"The moon doesn't grant wishes to a dog that just barks at it" she said.

"You're all bark, but no bite. No one wants that"

She walked through the entrance of the Castle.

This would be the last time that she set foot on this place.

/

As she walked past Memory Skyscraper, she saw Axel leaning on one of the buildings.

She figured that he knew what she was going to do and was planning on stopping her.

Axel looked at her as she walked by.

"You're mind's made up?" he asked.

Ankoku stopped walking and looked over her shoulder.

"Why did the keyblade choose me?" she asked.

"I have to know, and I won't find the answers here"

Axel glared at her and stood up from leaning.

"You can't turn on the Organization!" he cried.

Ankoku glared back at him.

"And you can't turn your back on your friends" she retorted.

Axel just gave her harsh look.

"You get on their bad side, and they'll destroy you!" he said.

Ankoku looked away.

"No one would miss me" she said.

Axel looked hurt.

"That's not true" he said.

"I would"

Ankoku scoffed.

"That's rich" she said.

"This coming from the friend who kept secrets from the ones he trusted the most? Don't make me laugh"

Axel glared at her.

"I was just trying to protect you and Roxas" he said.

Ankoku looked at him.

"Yeah? Well all you did was just make a huge mess out of everything" she said.

Axel just looked at the ground.

Ankoku turned her back on him.

"I have a feeling that Xemnas will order you to capture me" she said.

"I wouldn't bother if I were you. I'll probably be near Tsukiko, and I'm sure everyone will be thrilled that you've kept something from them as well"

She looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"You may have hurt Roxas and I, but know you would never want to hurt Tsukiko"

She knew she was playing a tough game, but she knew that if she brought Tsukiko up, he would never try to track her.

She knew that Tsukiko was more precious to him than anyone else.

Even his friends.

Axel glared off to the side.

"Get out of my sight" he said.

Ankoku knew that was his way of saying for her to go.

She nodded and looked ahead of her.

"It's been fun…Axel"

She walked off and headed towards the place she knew where she had to be.

Axel just watched as she left.

"Be careful…Ankoku" he said.

"And…I'm sorry"

/

Back at the mansion in Twilight Town, Taiyouko sat in her room.

Riku was sitting by her desk.

He had to break up another fight between her and Diz today.

He had learned that they were related a while ago and he didn't want any bad blood between them.

But from the looks of things, it had been bad for quite some time.

He also understood why Diz was so set on waking Hikari up.

"_He wants his granddaughter to have her memories back" _he thought.

Taiyouko gave him an apologetic grin.

"Sorry you had to interfere again" she said.

Riku shrugged.

"It's not like this is the first time that I have" he said.

Taiyouko chuckled dryly.

"He may be my dad, but he's not the 'best parent of the year' material" she said.

"I've always thought that I was a better parent that he ever was. Why he's decided to help us wake Sora and Hikari up is beyond me"

Riku shrugged.

"At least we're getting help" he said.

Taiyouko nodded.

"True. But it's still not enough" she said.

"We need 'them' to make it go faster"

By 'them', Riku knew she meant Roxas and Ankoku.

He was thinking the same thing too.

He figured that it wasn't such a good idea to let Ankoku go like that.

They would have one less thing to worry about.

But he would rather have her come willingly that by force.

Just then a portal opened up in front of them.

Riku and Taiyouko summoned their weapons and pointed it at the portal.

But when they saw who it was that came out, they lowered them.

Ankoku looked at them with a determined look in her eyes.

"I'm in"

/

**A/N: So Ankoku has made her decision. Now all that's left is for Roxas to join. But it won't be so easy. They still have Xion to worry about. How will our twins cope when they have to fight with their friend?**

**I hoped you all liked the little vision that Ankoku had of Hikari and Riku. **

**It just shows what's going to happen to our lovely couple in the future.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	23. Dirge of the Fourteenth

Chapter 23: Dirge of the Fourteenth

**A/n: We've now come to probably the saddest part of the game. Now Roxas and Ankoku must fight their dear friend. Will they be able to do it, or will it become too much for them?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku, Taiyouko, and Tsukiko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

"So this is where she's sleeping?"

Ankoku stood in front of Hikari's pod and watched as she slept.

She noticed that the girl looked a bit older than what she saw in the memories.

"That is correct" Diz said.

"Now all we need it your 'twin' and then we can progress with our plans"

He looked at the nobody who looked exactly like his granddaughter.

"I thought he would come with you, but it appears that is not the case. This is troublesome"

Ankoku gave him a dull glare.

"Ok, I'm just going to say this one" she said.

"I may have agreed to go back to where I belong, but I am not going to deal with you. I have been told what to do for a long time and I am not going to let that continue. We may work together, but we are not going to get along"

Taiyouko snickered as she heard that, but was stopped when Riku elbowed her.

Ankoku looked back at Hikari's pod.

"He'll come" she said.

"Roxas always followed me. No matter where I went, he would come after me like a lost chick"

Diz nodded.

"If that is the case, then we'll keep you here for the time being"

Ankoku looked at him.

"I already have a place to stay here" she said.

"My friend lives here in Twilight Town, so I'll be staying with her. I'm not going to run away. I have nowhere else to go. Just let me stay with my friend with the remaining time that I have left"

Diz didn't say anything for a moment.

He looked back at the pod and sighed.

"Very well" he said.

"Just tell me who it is, so we know where to contact you"

Ankoku nodded.

"Her name is Tsukiko" she said.

Taiyouko's face paled slightly.

"T-Tsukiko?" she asked.

Ankoku nodded and looked at her.

"Yeah, she even looks a bit like you" she said.

"She said that she came here ten years ago, but she doesn't remember anything from before that. Weird, huh?"

Diz slowly looked at his daughter.

"Is that so?" he asked.

Ankoku nodded.

"Well, if you need me, I'll be there"

She walked out of the room and headed towards her friend's home.

When she left, Diz rounded on Taiyouko.

The sorceress actually looked afraid of him for once.

Riku noticed the atmosphere changing between them and stood protectively in front of Taiyouko.

"You didn't get rid of her?" Diz hissed.

Taiyouko flinched at the tone that he used.

"Of course not" she said.

"I created her so I can do whatever I want with her. Besides…she couldn't return to me, even if I wanted her to"

Diz sighed darkly and looked back at Hikari's pod.

"Now I have yet another mess to clean up" he said.

Taiyouko but her lip and looked away.

She slowly walked out of the room with Riku on her tail.

/

_Day 356_

Ankoku wasn't the only one who left the Organization.

Shortly after she left, Xion left as well.

She decided that she too had to go back to where she belonged.

So that's why she was standing in Namine's room.

The witch smiled softly at her when she pulled her hood off.

"Nice to meet you…Xion"

Xion sat across from her.

"Namine, you can see my face?" she asked.

Namine nodded.

"Yes" she said.

Xion looked at the table.

"What do you think I should do?" she asked.

Namine tilted her head.

"What do you want to do?" she asked.

Xion looked up at her, then looked at the picture of her with Roxas, Ankoku and Axel that was on the wall.

"I thought I knew at first" she said.

"I wanted me, Roxas, Ankoku and Axel to be together forever. But then I started to realize these memories don't belong to me"

Namine nodded.

"That's because you're Kairi" she said.

"At least, the Kairi that Sora and Hikari remember "

Xion looked at the table.

"The more I remember, the more I feel like I'm in the wrong place…like…like I need to go back"

Namine looked at her.

"Back to Sora and Hikari?" she asked.

Xion nodded.

Namine looked at her sadly.

"If you return your memories to them, you'll disappear" she said.

"And since everything about you was built on those memories…no one will remember you when you're gone. There won't be any 'you' to remember. I can't save you, Xion-even a memory of you"

Xion nodded.

"I know" she said.

"I'm ready. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here"

She looked at the table.

"Roxas and Ankoku belong to them too" she said.

"I know Ankoku understands…but I don't think Roxas will"

Namine smiled softly at her.

"He can't feel Sora" she admitted.

"But he will"

Xion looked at her.

"Namine, will you watch over Roxas and Ankoku once I'm gone?" she asked.

"You won't be alone. I asked somebody else to look after them, too. It's just…there isn't anything else I can do for them"

Namine nodded.

"All right" she said.

Xion smiled at her.

"Thank you" she said.

Namine smiled in return.

"If you're ready, let's go see Sora and Hikari" she said.

Just as they were about to get up, Diz appeared.

He looked at Namine.

"Namine, they've found us!" he cried.

"They are on their way!"

He glared at Xion.

"That blasted puppet led them right to our doorsteps!" he snapped.

"See what you get for trusting it?"

Xion suddenly stood up.

"I'll get rid of them!" she cried.

She ran out of the room to handle the problem.

Namine got up from her seat.

"Xion! No!" she cried.

/

Xion stood in front of the mansion's gates and looked around the area.

A portal opened up.

Axel wore a grim expression as he walked out.

"Why do I always get stuck with the icky jobs?" he asked.

He closed the portal and walked towards Xion.

Xion looked at him sadly.

"Axel" she said.

Axel placed his hands on his hips.

"Xion…" he said.

"What are you gonna do?"

Xion looked at the ground.

"I've decided that I have to go back to where I belong" she said.

Axel sighed.

"Well, to be honest, I always felt that was best, right from the beginning" he admitted.

"But you know, it still really bugs me. Something about this just stinks"

Xion looked at him.

"It's for the good of everyone" she said.

Axel glared at her.

"But how do you know that?" he asked.

"Everyone thinks they're right"

"This is right" Xion pointed out.

Axel just snapped at her.

"They're going to destroy you!"

He gasped when he saw her summon her keyblades.

"Please don't hold back, Axel" she said.

"Promise?"

Axel glared up at the sky before looking at the ground.

"What's your problem?" he cried.

"You three…think you can do whatever you want. Well I'm sick of it"

He glared up at her.

"Go on, you just keep on running. But I'll always be there to bring you back!"

As he said that, he summoned his Chakrams.

Xion just gripped her keyblades tightly.

/

After the battle, Axel sluggishly carried Xion back to the castle.

That battle took more out of him than he thought it would.

He looked at Xion, who was in his arms.

"Man…" he groaned.

"Why you always…cause me…trouble…"

He took another step before passing out.

Xion fell out of his arms and he fell to the ground.

Xemnas came up to them.

He looked at Axel for a moment, before picking Xion up and walked away.

/

_Day 357_

"_Daddy!"_

_A little girl with shoulder length brown hair and aqua blue eyes ran to her father._

_A much older Riku turned around and smiled at his daughter._

_He knelt down and picked her up._

_The girl smiled as she was being held by her dad._

"_Daddy! Ichigo taught me how to use a sword today!" she cried._

_A slightly older boy with silver hair and jade green eyes walked up to them._

_He put his hands in his pockets as he looked at his sister._

"_More liked forced me" he said._

"_She wouldn't shut up about it"_

_He gave his sister a dull look._

"_You're a real handful, you know that Hoshi?"_

_Hoshi just giggled._

"_You're just saying that because I beat you" she said._

_Ichigo rolled his eyes._

"_I let you" he mumbled._

_Riku just chuckled at his kids._

"_You both act like your mother" he said._

_Just then, Hikari came over to them._

_She wore a loose fitting dress that showed her slightly large stomach._

_Hoshi's eyes lit up when she saw her._

"_Mommy!"_

_Hikari smiled and kissed her daughter on the forehead._

_Ichigo smiled softly when he got a kiss too._

_Hikari smiled at her husband._

"_I take it you and the kids are having fun?" she asked._

_Riku shrugged before kissing his wife._

"_You could say that" he said._

"_It's like any other day"_

_Hikari smiled before placing a hand on her stomach._

_Her eyes sparkled as she looked at her children._

/

Ankoku groaned as she woke up.

She sat up from the couch that she was sleeping on before rubbing her eyes.

She had been staying with Tsukiko for the past week.

She told her everything about Xion and what the Organization was after.

Tsukiko immediately took her in and made her feel right at home.

She had discarded her Organization cloak and was wearing the outfit she had on when she was first born.

Running a hand through her messy hair, she recalled the vision she just had.

"That was weird" she said to herself.

"I wonder how Riku would react if he heard this?"

Tsukiko came into the room.

"Morning sleepy head" she said.

"Did you have a good rest?"

Ankoku just groaned as she got up.

"You could say that" she said.

She tied bits of her hair back with her blue ribbon before looking at her.

"Thanks again for letting me stay here a bit" she said.

Tsukiko waved her off.

"Please, like I would leave you on your own like that" she said.

She handed her a cup of juice before sitting by the coffee table.

Ankoku took a sip before looking at her.

"Are you still mad about Axel?"

Tsukiko rolled her eyes.

"That man can be so complicated" she said.

"I wished he would have told me, but I'm sure he had his reasons"

Ankoku just shrugged as she drank her juice.

Just then, a portal opened up in front of them.

Ankoku summoned her keyblade, thinking it Saix or Axel, but was relieved when she saw her twin.

Roxas walked in with a sad look on his face.

He looked up at them and gave his sister a weak smile.

"Hey sis" he said.

Ankoku dismissed her weapon.

"What are you doing here, Roxas?"

He told her everything about what had happened in the Organization when she left.

He told her about Xion leaving and about how he wasn't getting answers to anything.

"I read your letter and figured you would be here" he said.

Ankoku nodded.

Just as she predicted, he followed her.

Now that he was here, he had to go back to Sora.

Roxas looked at Tsukiko.

"Do you mind if I stay here for a few days?" he asked.

"Just until I get things clear up"

Tsukiko nodded.

"Stay as long as you like" she said.

Roxas gave her a weak smile.

"Thank you" he said.

Ankoku pat her brother on the shoulder.

"Come on" she said.

"We need to talk"

She led him outside and headed towards the clock tower.

/

Roxas chuckled weakly when they sat in their usual spots.

"Where did I think I could go?" he asked.

"What a joke"

Ankoku looked at her brother sadly.

It tore her up about what she was going to do to him, but she knew this was the only way he could be safe.

If he was still out and about, then Xemnas would destroy him.

She gave his shoulder a squeeze.

"It's going to be ok" she said.

Roxas just brought his knees up to his chest and looked at the sky.

As they were lost in their own world, they didn't notice that someone had joined them.

Roxas jumped a little when he saw that it was Xion.

"Xion?" he cried.

Ankoku noticed that her hood was up.

Something was wrong.

Xion didn't say anything to them.

She just handed them some sea salt ice cream.

Roxas smiled softly at her before taking them.

"Thanks" he said.

The three of them ate their ice cream in silence.

When they finished them, that's when Xion finally spoke.

"Roxas…Ankoku…" she said quietly.

"I'm out of time"

She stood up and slowly pulled her hood back.

Ankoku gasped when she didn't see Xion's face, but rather, Hikari's.

Roxas was like her, only he saw Sora's face.

Xion looked at the ground.

"Even if I'm not ready…I have to make this choice" she said.

"You both have poured so many memories into me…given me so much…that I feel like I'm about to overflow"

She turned to them.

"Look at me" she said.

"Who do you see?"

She gave them a weak smile.

"Roxas….if you see someone else's face…a boy's face…Ankoku….if you see a girl's face…then that means that I'm almost ready. This puppet will have to play her part. Roxas…Ankoku…This is them…this is Sora and Hikari"

Ankoku placed a hand over her mouth.

This could not be happening.

Roxas was so surprised that he couldn't see anything.

They both watched as she walked off the clock tower and stood in the air.

Roxas and Ankoku stood up in response.

Xion pulled her hood back up before looking at them.

"You're next, Roxas and Ankoku" she said.

She held out her hand and let dark energy surround them.

"I have to make you both a part of me too" she said.

"Don't yo see? This is why I was created"

Her body transformed into a strange armored being.

She lifted her hand up and opened a type of portal.

With that, she engulfed them in darkness.

/

Ankoku was surprised to find out that they were in one of the worlds that they went to together.

Roxas watched in horror and Xion transformed into a bizarre type of creature.

Ankoku bit her lip before summoning her keyblade.

She really didn't want to fight her friend, but she knew that the Xion she knew was long gone.

Roxas looked at her.

"What are you doing?" he cried.

"She's our friend!"

Ankoku gave him a sad stare.

"That isn't the Xion we know" Ankoku.

"She's long gone. All that's left is this empty shell. We have to set her free, or else things will just get harder for her"

Roxas looked away sadly.

He didn't say anything for a moment, but then summoned his keyblade as well.

"Let's make this quick" he said.

They fought with their former friend with much grief.

It was difficult because they knew Xion so well and they didn't want to hurt her.

But they knew that this wasn't the Xion they became friends with.

Whenever they defeated her, she would take them to another world and transform again.

This went on for two more times before she took them back to Twilight Town and transformed for the last time.

She turned into a larger version of the armored version she was before and towered over the clock tower.

She held out two giant keyblades and faced them.

Ankoku looked at her twin.

"Let's finish this" she said.

Roxas nodded.

They went full force on her.

It was hard to dodge her giant keyblades when they could barely block them with their own.

Plus, they had to be careful where they stepped since they were up in the air.

Ankoku ground her teeth as she continued to fight.

She knew that like herself, Xion had to return to where she belonged, even if it meant destroying her.

When things became desperate, they used their limit breaks on her to finish her off.

That did it for her.

Xion dropped her keyblades and shrunk to her normal side.

Ankoku sighed.

"It's over" she said.

Just then, they fell to the cobblestone ground.

/

Xion staggered as she reverted to her normal self.

She knew then that she had reached her limit.

Since Roxas and Ankoku defeated her, their memories of her would start to disappear.

She fell to her knees when the twins slowly approached her.

Roxas held his head.

"Who are you…again?" he asked.

"It's weird. I feel like I'm forgetting something really important"

Ankoku bit her lip as she looked at Xion.

She didn't want to admit that she was starting to forget about her friend too.

But she knew she couldn't deny it as she looked at her face.

She couldn't even remember her name.

Xion smiled weakly that the process had begun.

"You'll be…better off now…Roxas…Ankoku…"

She fell forward, but the twins caught her.

They watched as crystallized particles started to come off of her.

Roxas looked at her sadly.

"Did we…do this?" he asked.

Xion shook her head.

"No" she said quietly.

"It was my choice…to go away now. Better that, than to do nothing…and let Xemnas have his way"

She weakly looked at her friends.

"I belong with Sora and Hikari" she said.

"And now, I am going back…to be with them"

Ankoku gripped Xion's hand.

She knew that she would have to return to Hikari soon as well.

Xion placed her hand over Roxas's while she gripped Ankoku's.

"Roxas…Ankoku…" she said.

"I need you…to do me a favor. All those hearts that I've captured…Kingdom Hearts…set them free"

Ankoku nodded.

"Kingdom Hearts…free them"

Xion's body started to crystallize.

"It's too late…for me to undo my mistakes" she said weakly.

"But you can't let Xemnas…have Kingdom Hearts. You can't"

She smiled at them weakly.

"Goodbye, Roxas, Ankoku" she said.

"See you again. I'm glad…I got to meet you both"

She chuckled weakly.

"Oh..And of course, Axel too"

She placed her hand on Roxas's face.

"You're all my best friends" she said.

"Never forget. That's the truth"

Just then, her hand went limp.

Roxas caught it as her body nearly became crystal.

Ankoku looked horrified as Xion closed her eyes.

"No!" she cried.

Roxas looked like he was about to cry.

"Xion…" he said.

"Who else will we have ice cream with?"

Xion just smiled as she faded back to Sora and Hikari.

They both watched as their friend turned into particles.

The only thing left of her was a small blue sea shell.

Ankoku picked it up.

"Xion…" she said quietly.

Tears ran down her face as she silently cried.

Roxas was the same.

/

Back as the Castle, Axel lay on his bed.

He had just found out the aftermath of Xion's fight.

A scowled was on his face.

It seemed he had lost all of his friends.

All because he kept his mouth shut.

"How did this happen?" he asked himself.

He sat up and noticed an envelope.

He picked it up and examined it before opening it.

He pulled out a Popsicle stick the word 'winner' on it.

He chuckled dryly.

"Thanks Roxas" he said.

/

Saix appeared before Xemnas in the round room.

"Xion is no more" he said.

Xemnas nodded.

He had expected as much.

"It is probably for the best" he said.

He looked at his loyal follower.

"Get me back my keyblade wielders" he ordered.

"Fetch me Roxas and Ankoku"

Just because he lost one keyblade wielder, didn't mean he was going to lose all of them.

He needed to keep Kingdom Hearts alive.

Saix nodded and disappeared.

/

"Roxas, just stay put!"

After Xion vanished, they retreated back to Tsukiko's apartment.

It seemed that even she was forgetting about her, because she couldn't remember her name.

Roxas just shook his head and tried to push past his sister.

"I can't!" he cried.

"You heard what she said. We need to destroy Kingdom Hearts! I we do…we can bring her back"

Ankoku bit her it was becoming hard for him to say Xion's name.

She sighed inwardly.

This was not who things were suppose to be.

She had to bring him back to Diz before Xemnas got a hold of them again.

She tried pushing him down on the couch.

"We just fought a huge battle" she said.

"We need to rest"

Roxas just shook his head.

"We stay still for any longer, our chances of destroying Kingdom Hearts will grow slimmer and slimmer" he said.

Ankoku just hung her head.

It seemed like her brother wasn't going to listen to her.

She didn't know what to do to make him to change his mind.

Roxas shot up from his seat.

"I'm going back to the castle" he said.

"If I have to do it myself, then I will"

He opened up a portal and went through it.

"Roxas! Wait!"

But it was too late.

The portal closed behind him and left Ankoku and Tsukiko alone.

Tsukiko looked worriedly at Ankoku.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

Ankoku sighed.

If she couldn't stop him, then there was only one person who could.

"Hang on. I have an idea"

She opened a portal and went to the last person she would ask help from.

/

Riku stood in front of Hikari's pod.

"It won't be long" he said.

"Soon you'll wake up"

When he heard a portal open up, he whipped his head around.

He grew confused when he saw Ankoku looked frantic.

"I need your help!" she said.

She told him about what happened to Xion and what Roxas planned on doing.

Ankoku shook her head as she looked at the floor.

"He just wouldn't listen to me" she said weakly.

"I tried to stop him, but he just kept on going. If he heads back to the castle, Xemnas will kill him on sight"

She looked at him desperately.

"I know you and I haven't been on good terms since we've met…but I really need your help" she pleaded.

"There's no way I can stop Roxas on my own. He's just too stubborn. I know you're really strong, so I thought maybe you had what it took"

A tear escaped her eye.

"He's really important to me" she said.

"Just like Hikari is precious to you, Roxas is precious to me. We may not be really related, but he's still my twin. I don't know what I would do if anything happened to him"

She fell to her hands and knees.

"I'm begging you to save him before it's too late! You can bring him back here when you catch him. He needs to return to where he belongs, just like I do. All I ask is that you'll help me get him back"

Riku looked at her as she begged on her hands and knees.

This was totally out of character for her.

"Please" she whimpered.

Riku sighed.

There was just no way he could say no to Hikari's nobody.

"I'll do it" he said.

Ankoku looked up at him and slowly got to her feet.

"You will?" she asked.

Riku nodded.

"You're willing to return to Hikari, even knowing you'll disappear. The least I can do is show you my gratitude" he said.

"And you're right. We do need Roxas. He's hold a tiny portion of Hikari's memories as well. If he was destroyed, then Hikari, nor Sora would ever wake up. I'll stop him before he reaches the Castle. If you can stop him at Memory Skyscraper, then I'll do the rest"

Ankoku smiled at him.

"Thank you" she said.

She rubbed her head.

"You know…you're not as bad as I thought you were. I guess that's why Hikari loves you so much"

Riku just blushed.

"Just get ready" he said.

Ankoku nodded and opened up a portal.

She suddenly remembered the vision she had of him and Hikari.

"Oh yeah. I had a vision of what's going to happen to you and Hikari" she said.

She looked over her shoulder and gave him a smirk.

"Let's just say your kids are going to be a handful"

Riku's head snapped in her direction.

"What?"

Ankoku just laughed and headed back to Tsukiko's apartment.

Riku's face went red as he looked at Hikari's pod.

"My…kids?"

/

"You can't be serious?"

Ankoku told Tsukiko what was going to happen.

She told her about her deal with Diz and how she had to return to Hikari.

Tsukiko went ballistic about it.

"You can't go back to her!" she cried.

"You are your own person! Nothing can change that!"

Ankoku sighed as she zipped her Organization cloak up.

She looked at her friend wearily.

She didn't realize just how hard it was going to be when she left Tsukiko.

She was her only real friend.

"I have to do this" she said.

"If I continue to exist, then things are just going to get worse"

Tsukiko shook her head.

"Don't be crazy" she said.

"You belong here, just like Roxas does"

Ankoku chuckled weakly.

"Nobodies aren't suppose to exist" she said.

She opened up a portal that would lead her back to the castle.

"I'll be back soon" she said.

"Hopefully this won't end badly"

She walked through the portal, never even bothering to close it.

/

**A/N: Poor Xion. This was really hard to write, considering what happened to her. **

**Now Ankoku must stop Roxas before it's too late. Will she be able to do it with the help of Riku?**

**And how do Diz and Taiyouko know about Tsukiko?**

**All will be revealed in the final chapter of this story.**

**Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Ja ne**


	24. Believe

Chapter 24: Believe

**A/N: We have made it to the final chapter to this story! I want to thank everyone who has read this story until the end and I hope you'll be around for when 'A Trail of Memories 2' comes out.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own Ankoku, Tsukiko and Taiyouko.**

**Enjoy!**

/

Ankoku had to run through the dark streets of the Castle that Never Was.

She didn't know how far Roxas was.

She wanted to make sure that he didn't go too far from the Memory Skyscraper, or her plans would be ruined.

She just hoped Riku kept his end of the deal.

She spotted Roxas up ahead and sprinted towards him.

"Roxas!"

The dirty blond turned around to see his twin running towards him.

"Sis, what are you doing here?" he asked.

Ankoku caught her breath before she spoke.

"I came here to help" she lied.

"I can't let you have all the fun"

Roxas smiled.

"Thanks" he said.

He pulled up his hood so no one would see him.

"Then let's go"

Ankoku nodded and pulled her hood up as well.

She sadly looked at her brother, knowing that she was going to betray him in a minute.

"_I'm sorry, Roxas" _she thought.

"_But this is what's best for the both of us"_

/

When they made it to the Memory Skyscraper, they were greeted by a group of heartless.

Roxas and Ankoku summoned their keyblades, but they were also able to summon a second set.

Since they both absorbed Xion, they were able to wield her keyblades.

Roxas summoned the Oathkeeper keyblade while Ankoku summoned the Oblivion one.

They ran at the horde and slashed through them with ease.

While Ankoku was fighting, she discreetly searched for Riku.

He said he would be here to stop Roxas, so where was he?

When she looked up at the skyscraper, she found him standing on the top.

She looked to make sure Roxas was focused on fighting the heartless before she ran up the building.

As she did, her hood feel back and revealed her face.

She threw her Oblivion keyblade at Riku for him to use.

Riku saw this and jumped off the building.

When he grabbed the keyblade, memories of Xion flashed through his head.

They were clear at first, but soon then became fuzzy until he couldn't remember her anymore.

When Ankoku and Riku were passing each other, they made eye contact before reaching the opposite ends of the building.

Ankoku watched from the top as Riku and Roxas slaying the heartless before jumping back down.

When she landed on the ground, she saw the two guys facing each other.

Roxas glared at Riku through his hood.

"Who are you?" he asked.

Riku just looked at him emotionlessly.

"What does it matter?" he asked.

"I'm here for you"

Ankoku slowly backed away from the two of them.

She knew that Riku would have to fight Roxas if he wanted to bring him back, and she didn't want to get caught up in it.

Roxas gripped his keyblades.

"Why are you trying to stop me?" he asked.

"Because I want the rest of Sora and Hikari's memories" Riku replied.

Roxas growled.

"It's always about Sora and Hikari!" he cried.

"Enough about them!"

Riku tilted his head slightly.

"Do you have some kind of plan?" he asked.

Roxas nodded.

"I'm going to set Kingdom Hearts free!" he declared.

"Then everything can go back to the way it was! Me, Sis, and Axel, and…and her can go on back having ice cream together…"

Riku looked at Ankoku's Oblivion keyblade.

"Her? You mean Xion?" he asked.

"It's a struggled just to remember the name now, isn't it?"

He looked back at Roxas.

"Either way, I can't let you go doing anything crazy" he said.

Roxas glared at him.

"I have to find this Sora person, and freeing Kingdom Hearts is the only way!" he said.

"I want Xion back! I want my life back!"

Riku sighed.

"If you try and make contact with Kingdom Hearts, the last thing you'll get is your life back" he said.

"The Organization will destroy you"

Roxas growled.

"Shut up!" he cried.

The two of them fought while Ankoku helplessly watched.

Even though she knew she should fight, she just couldn't.

She didn't want to against Riku because he was helping her by prevent Roxas from going back to the Organization.

And she couldn't fight Roxas since he was her twin.

All she could do was helplessly watch as they fought and hoped that it wouldn't end badly.

The two of them fought for a couple of minutes before Roxas got the upper hand.

He sent Riku to the ground and watched as he struggled to sit up.

Riku weakly looked at the nobody of his best friend.

He had to admit, he fought just like Sora did.

But no matter how much they acted, they would never be the same.

"Why?" he asked.

"Why do you have the keyblade?"

Roxas looked at one of his keyblades and glared at Riku.

"Shut up!" he cried.

He went to attack him, but Riku was fast on his feet and knocked Roxas out.

He slowly went over to the nobody to make sure he was down for the count.

When he did, he tossed Ankoku's keyblade back to her.

She slowly walked towards her brother and looked at him sadly.

His hood was back, so she was able to see his face properly.

"Sorry, Roxas" she said.

"But this needs to be done"

She went to pick him up, but saw that he was waking up.

She jumped out of the way he summoned one of his keyblades and went to attack Riku.

Riku sent a blast of dark energy at him, but Roxas just defected it with his keyblade.

He growled when Riku jumped out of the way at the last second.

"Why don't you quit?" he asked.

Riku decided to try to test to see if his connection with Sora was present.

If it was, then that meant he was ready to return to him.

"Come on, Sora" he said.

"I thought you were stronger than that"

Ankoku was surprised to see Roxas reacting to it.

"Get real" he said.

"Look which one of us is winning"

He covered his mouth when he realized what he said.

Riku chuckled quietly.

"So it's true" he said.

"You really are his nobody. Guess Diz was right after all"

Roxas glared at him and summoned his other keyblade.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I am me. Nobody else!"

He charged at Riku and managed to attack him.

Riku went to block it with his arm, but got hurt in the process.

This trigger something from Ankoku.

"Riku!" she cried.

She covered her mouth after she said.

Riku chuckled weakly.

He knew that was Hikari speaking just then.

"Still worried about me, even when you're asleep" he muttered.

He slowly stood up and faced Roxas.

"All right" he said.

"You've left me with no other choice"

Roxas raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?"

Riku slowly reached for the blindfold that covered his eyes.

"I have to release the power in my heart-the dark power that I've been holding back"

The blindfold fell to the ground as he faced Roxas.

"Even…if it changes me forever"

Ankoku watched at Riku's body floated off the ground and transformed into Ansem.

'Riku' suddenly appeared in front of Roxas and had his dark guardian grab him.

Roxas struggled but the guardian just gripped him tighter.

It came to the point that he made Roxas black out and drop his keyblades.

Riku sadly watched as his dark powers did this.

"I have accepted it" he said.

/

When the battle was over, Ankoku brushed the hair out of Roxas's face.

She didn't realize that when he lost, Xion was fading from her memory.

Riku watched her as she made sure that her brother was alright.

She looked up at him and gave him a sad smile.

"Thank you" she said.

"And I'm sorry"

Riku didn't say anything.

He simply nodded.

When a portal opened, he quickly pulled his hood up.

Diz and Taiyouko stepped out of it to see the outcome of the battle.

Riku looked over his shoulder at Diz.

"Diz…he could feel Sora" he said.

Diz just looked the nobody that was on the ground.

"Oh, he told you how he 'felt' did he?" he asked.

"Ridiculous. A nobody cannot feel anything"

Taiyouko frowned at her father.

Leave it to him to think poorly of others.

Riku just looked at Roxas.

"If he had met Sora, things might have been different" he said.

Ankoku sighed and looked at Diz.

"You got what you wanted, right?" she asked.

"Now let's get out of here. This place is too depressing"

As she went down to pick Roxas up, a voice stopped her in her tracks.

"ANKOKU!"

Ankoku gasped and whipped her head around.

Her face paled when she saw Tsukiko running towards her.

"Tsukiko?" she asked.

Diz glared at her while Taiyouko paled.

"There she is" he said.

Ankoku couldn't believe it.

How in the world did Tsukiko get her.

She gasped when she realized that when she left to stop Roxas, she didn't close the portal behind her.

"_She was able to get here because of it" _she thought.

Tsukiko skidded to a stop when she came to Ankoku.

Ankoku looked horrified at the sight of her friend.

She shouldn't be here.

There were heartless lurking at every corner and her heart would be like an all you can eat buffet to them.

"What are you doing here?" she cried.

Tsukiko gave her a firm look.

"I came here to stop you" she said.

"I'm not going to let you return to some chick that you don't even know"

She looked at the group she was with and frowned.

"Who the heck are these guys?"

Diz scoffed and looked at Taiyouko.

"I see you even erased her memories" he said.

"How lovely"

Taiyouko just glared at him.

"I did it because I knew what you were going to do to her" she snapped.

Diz just shook his head and looked back at Tsukiko.

"Now that you're here, I won't have to search for you" he said.

Ankoku looked from Tsukiko to Diz.

"You know her?" she asked.

Diz scowled.

"Unfortunately" he said.

"She is something that was never meant to exist in the first place"

He looked back at Taiyouko.

"Isn't that right?"

Taiyouko looked at Tsukiko.

Tsukiko tilted her head as she saw her.

"You look…really familiar" she said.

Taiyouko smiled weakly.

"I guess you wouldn't be surprised to see me" she said.

"After all…we are the same being"

Ankoku raised an eyebrow.

"_Same being?" _she thought.

Diz pulled something from the depths of his robes and pulled out a silver collar.

"Now I need to make sure you don't pull anything" he said.

He advanced towards Tsukiko.

Tsukiko glared at him and started to back away.

"You keep your hands to yourself, creep" she said.

Diz just glared at her and snapped his fingers.

Dark twilight thorns came up from the ground and wrapped themselves around Tsukiko's arms.

She tried to pull free from them, but they wouldn't let up.

Taiyouko panicked.

"Don't hurt her!" she cried.

Diz glared at her.

"This blasted nobody shouldn't have been created in the first place!" he snapped.

That caught Ankoku by surprise.

"_Nobody?"_

Diz snapped the collar around Tsukiko's neck and dismissed the thorns.

Tsukiko's eyes grew heavy all of a sudden.

She wobbled a bit before falling to the ground.

Ankoku rushed to help her, but Diz held her back.

"This has nothing to do with you" he said.

Ankoku glare at him.

"The hell it doesn't!" she said.

"She's my friend! How could you do that to her? And what do you mean she's a nobody?"

It didn't add up.

Nobodies didn't have hearts, but Tsukiko did.

Why would she be considered as one of them?

Diz gave her a dull glare.

"You ask too much"

He chopped her in the back of the neck and knocked her out.

Ankoku's vision went black and she fell face first to the floor.

As she did, Xion's sea shell fell from her pocket.

Diz looked at Riku and Taiyouko.

"Let's get them out of here" he said.

"We have work to do"

Both glared at him, but did as they were told.

As Ankoku and Roxas were being carried away, they could have sworn that they heard Xion's voice.

_Roxas…Ankoku…don't be sad._

_I came from you, Sora and Hikari._

_I am you…the same way that I am them._

_You'll forget me, but the memories themselves will never go away._

_Memories of us will always be together…forever, inside them._

/

**A/N: I'm sure you all have questions about the ending. Don't worry, all will be revealed in 'A Trail of Memories 2'. We'll learn how Tsukiko is Taiyouko's nobody.**

**Thank you all again for reading and reviewing this story!**

**Ja ne**


	25. Epilogue

Epilogue

**A/N: Hey everyone! Stay tuned for the next installment of this series. 'A Trail of Memories 2' will be up pretty soon.**

/

Ankoku woke up from her sleep and sat up.

She looked around her room that was part of Twilight Town.

She held her forehead.

"Another dream about her" she mumbled.

She heard the town's clock chime and opened her window to the let the morning air in.

She took a deep breath before sighing.

"I might as well get used to this" she said.

She got dressed for the day and went to go wake Roxas up.

/

The twins ran down the alley towards their usual spot.

Roxas was grinning ear-to-ear about their 'daily plans'.

"Maybe…today we'll finally hit the beach!" he said.

Ankoku smiled sadly at her brother.

Even though she knew what was going on, he was oblivious.

"_Let's keep it that way" _she thought.

When she caught sight of the clock tower, she stopped.

Memoires of her, Roxas and Axel eating ice cream went through her head.

She touched the blue sea shell that hung around her neck.

She didn't know where she got it, but she felt like it was important to her.

She smiled sadly when she looked away from the tower.

"_Even though I'm going to return to where I belong" _she thought.

"_At least I made some memories that will stay with me forever"_

As she chased after her brother, she couldn't help but say one thing.

"Only seven days to go, and then my 'summer vacation' is over"

/

**A/N: Thank you all for reading this story! I hope to see you when the next story comes out! **

**Ja ne**


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